Ministers believe the current system encourages people to throw away food that is still safe to eat. And they want shops to use a simple ‘use by’ date instead.
Confusion over the labels is thought to be one reason why 5.3 million tons of edible food and drink are thrown out every year.
border="0" alt="Best-before labels face axe to cut £6bn food throwaway"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596448427114869298" />‘Sell by’ and ‘display until’ stickers are also expected to be withdrawn.
The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) said last night that no change in the law was imminent. But Ministers are looking at ways of making the system more straightforward, possibly by issuing new guidelines to shops.
Anti-waste campaigners estimate that the average family throws away a fifth of the food and drink they buy, wasting £680 a year. The Government says dumped food each day includes 5 million potatoes, 4.4 million apples, a million loaves of bread and a million slices of ham.
One proposal is a ‘risk-based’ approach with labels explaining the dangers of eating old food. Fish, prawn and eggs will have to carry special warning labels because of the risk of food poisoning.
The change is expected to be announced within the next month by Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman.
A Defra spokesman said: ‘By law, pre-packed food must show a “Best before” date, even though many foods are still safe to eat after that date.
‘This is very different from the “Use by” date that shows when food is no longer safe and should be thrown away.
‘Being clear on the difference between the two could help us all to reduce food waste.’
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