Products and packs with best practice date labelling and storage guidance can really help households make the most of the food they buy. WRAP estimates that around 10% of the 1.3 million tonne reduction in household food waste from 2007 to 2012 was the result of these kind of changes to products and packs, and that a further 350,000 tonnes of household food waste could be prevented through further technical change.
Results from WRAP’s 2015 Retailer Survey show that there is a significant opportunity to:
- adopt best practice labelling guidance;
- make changes to products and packs to help reduce consumer food waste (including product formulation and portions); and
- embed these into processes and systems, so that they are systematically addressed on all food and drink products.
In partnership with the Food Standards Agency and Defra, we recently updated date labelling and storage guidance. Work is also underway with retailers to implement the best practice in labelling and design.