by Caroline St Clare

Created on: July 20, 2011

UK consumers waste around 8.3 million tons of food and drink each year, of which 5.3 million tons is classed as avoidable waste. This includes food such as yogurts, ready meals, fruit and meat, much of which is still perfectly safe to eat. Considering many households are experiencing financial hardship and dwindling finances, what's causing people to discard their unused food in such a wasteful manner?

According to the Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP), the three most common reasons why consumers throw their food away are: preparing too much food; not using the food in time; or not eating food before it reaches its use-by date. Of these, not using the food in time and not eating food before the use by date are classed as 'avoidable waste', while preparing too much food is classed as 'possibly avoidable' waste.

In the UK, most food packaging is labeled with either a 'use-by' date or a 'best before' date, both of which have a distinctly different meaning. Unfortunately, this isn't always clear to consumers. For example, the term 'use by' serves as a food safety warning. This means that the product in question should be consumed on or before the given date. Foods with 'use by' dates are not safe to eat once that date has expired. Typical foods with use by dates include meat, fish, yogurt and juice which have the potential to harbor harmful bacteria after a certain amount of time. Eating these foods which are out of date could put a consumer’s health at risk.

The 'best before' date, on the other hand, refers to the quality of the food. Products with this label can still be eaten even after the date has passed. However, the quality of the contents may have deteriorated during this time and it may not taste as fresh and its texture compromised.

Other dates commonly found on packaging labels are 'display until' or 'sell by' dates. Both of these are purely for the manufacturers or shop staff and can be ignored by consumers.

Not understanding the different date meanings can lead to consumers throwing out food while it's still safe to eat, especially in the case of those labeled with a ‘best before’ date. And in many cases, even food labeled with a 'use by' date are still edible even when the date has been reached. However, consumers don't want to risk their health and in many cases, even when a food looks and smells fine, they'll dispose of it if the 'use by' date has been reached.

Returning to the top three reasons for food waste, 'not using

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