British households throwing away £15billion of good food each year 

  • More than £20bn of food is being binned annually by homes and businesses
  • The UK’s total food waste is now estimated to be huge 10.2million tonnes
  • Tesco is now scrapping the ‘Best Before’ date on 70 fruit and vegetable lines

Households in Britain throw away £15billion of good food a year – £2billion more than previously thought, an analysis suggests.

If data for supermarkets, processors, and hospitality are added, the value is more than £20billion.

The UK’s total food waste is estimated to be 10.2million tonnes. Of this, 5million tonnes was edible food dumped by families – previously estimated at 4.4million.

The data is based on a new calculation by official advisory group the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), designed to bring measurements into line with international standards. It will heap pressure on families, supermarkets and restaurants to use food more carefully.

Selected fruit and vegetable lines will have ‘best before’ advice removed as families throw out food unnecessarily 

Huge amounts of food waste is being thrown out by families across Britain leading to drastic action being taken

Huge amounts of food waste is being thrown out by families across Britain leading to drastic action being taken

Tesco yesterday announced it was scrapping the ‘Best Before’ date on 70 fruit and vegetable lines.

Tory MP Neil Parish, of the Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee, called on other supermarkets to follow suit.

Peter Maddox of Wrap – which updated figures for 2015, the most recent available – said: ‘This makes the scale of the problem very clear. We all have a lot of work to do.’

 

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