Marks & Spencer removes best before dates to crack down on food waste

The retailer will remove the dates from labels on more than 300 products - 85% of its fresh produce proposition - including apples, potatoes and broccoli. 

The changes, being rolled out this week, are designed to help shoppers throw away less food at home by using their judgement rather than relying on dates provided on labels.   

Dates will be replaced with a new code that M&S staff will use to make sure fresh food remains on shelves. 

The move forms part of M&S’ Plan A sustainability strategy, which aims to halve food waste by 2030 and redistribute all edible surplus food by 2025. 

M&S has already donated more than 44 million meals to charities since 2015, through a partnership with Neighbourly. It also uses unsold baguettes and boules - baked fresh every day in more than 200 stores - to create frozen garlic bread.

The retailer’s latest Family Matters Index revealed that 72% of UK households are taking steps to reduce waste, while 55% of families said it was important for the shops they buy from to make sustainable choices easier for consumers. 

M&S director of food technology Andrew Clappen said: “We’re determined to tackle food waste – our teams and suppliers work hard to deliver fresh, delicious, responsibly sourced produce at great value and we need to do all we can to make sure none of it gets thrown away. 

“To do that, we need to be innovative and ambitious - removing best before dates where safe to do so, trialling new ways to sell our products and galvanising our customers to get creative with leftovers and embrace change.

“The other side of the challenge is making sure anything edible we don’t sell reaches those who need it most. By partnering with Neighbourly since 2015 we’ve ensured over 44million meals are redistributed to local communities. Our promise as we aim for our target of halving food waste is to keep searching for solutions while we maintain the standards and value our customers expect.”

Catherine David, director of collaboration and change at climate action charity WRAP added: “We’re thrilled to see this move from M&S, which will reduce food waste and help tackle the climate crisis. Removing dates on fresh fruit and veg can save the equivalent of 7 million shopping baskets of food being binned in our homes. 

“We urge more supermarkets to get ahead on food waste by axing date labels from fresh produce, allowing people to use their own judgement.”