The fight against food waste also involves the tons of expired products sent to landfills every year. Various solutions have been found by the supermarket chains to counter the phenomenon: recently many are offering discounts close to the date, a sort of last minute on yoghurt or cream cheese, or are sending damaged or food about to expire to charities (such as the “Ugly but Good” of Coop).
Carrefour in France has gone further. After the vote of the French Senate that effectively suppressed the use of the wording “Best before” (the one on non-perishable products), and a series of quality controls and food tests, it has taken a stand by changing the expiry date on 350 commercial brand products. Among these, the date of the wording “Best before” has been extended on 135 products such as cereals, rice, nuts, preserves; and there is no date at all on 50 products, including salt, sugar and vinegar. On fresh produce the “Best before” date has been extended from 7 to 10 days on yoghurt and from 2 to 8 days on spoon desserts.
A contrasting position comes from Denmark, where two of the major chains, Dansk Supermarked and Coop, have said they are against the new rule issued by the DVFA, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, which has lifted the obligation on retailers to remove all products with an expired “Best before” date from the shelves. The justification is that if the product is properly preserved and has not been opened, it can be safely consumed beyond the date indicated. The goal is, also in this case, the fight against waste.
Meanwhile, technology enters the arena, with a plethora of Apps that alert the user that in the shop or bar near their home there are products or sandwiches at discounted prices since close to the expiry date. Like the Turin start-up LastMinutesottocasa.
In any case, in May the EU had already proposed to abolish the expiry of certain non-perishable products such as pasta, rice and coffee. We will see whether Italy will decide to follow suit.
