Leading Herts councillor welcomes moves away from ‘best before’ dates on food

LEADING Herts County councillor Eric Buckmaster has told colleagues he welcomes moves by supermarkets to get rid of ‘best before’ dates on foods.

‘Best before’ dates can be found on a wide range of foods, including frozen foods, dried foods, tins and vegetables.

But whereas ‘use by’ dates are about food safety, ‘best before’ dates are about quality.

And even after a ‘best before’ date, the food may still be safe to eat – even though it may not be at its best.

In response to a question by Cllr Morris Bright, Cllr Buckmaster addressed the issue at a meeting of the full council on Tuesday (May 23).

Cllr Bright asked whether Cllr Buckmaster welcomed the moves by ‘many supermarkets’ to remove ‘best before’ dates on certain fresh products, like vegetables.

And Cllr Buckmaster said: “Yes, I think that would certainly help a lot.

“It’s possible that some people are getting rid of things prematurely and are overly concerned.

“But I think in a lot of occasions we can use our own judgement and common sense. I absolutely agree with that.”

As previously reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, food waste accounts for more than a quarter of everything that is thrown into residual waste bins in the county – equivalent to 52,000 tonnes of food waste a year.

Meanwhile estimates have suggested that as much as 85 per cent of it could actually be eaten – saving households as much as £720 a year and reducing the £5.9m it costs councils to deal with it.

Cllr Bright also asked whether charging for the removal of green waste by some authorities could impact on the amount of food waste being put into black bin.

In response Cllr Buckmaster referenced anticipated responses from the government, which could require the separate collect of food and ‘green’ garden waste in future.

And he said: “. . . if we can do all we can to discourage wasted food – but also to have separate food waste collections – it will enable the problem to be reduced and less will go to landfill or incineration.”