Gove announces plan to turn £1billion of supermarket waste into food for the homeless

Michael Gove promised a post-Brexit overhaul of food labelling rules today, insisting quitting the EU will improve safety for consumers.

The Environment Secretary’s speech comes days after the Coroner criticised Pret a Manger’s labelling of a baguette which caused Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, to have a fatal allergic reaction.

Mr Gove’s intervention was not a direct response to the tragic case but does come amid heightened demands for action.

He also announced a pilot scheme to redirect currently wasted but still useful food to those in need.

Michael Gove (pictured today speaking to the Tory conference) promised a post-Brexit overhaul of food labelling rules today, insisting quitting the EU will improve safety for consumers

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15 (pictured) was on a dream trip to Nice with her best friend and her father when she ate the sandwich laced with sesame seeds not listed on the label

Mr Gove told the Tory conference in Birmingham quitting the EU would allow the development of a brand new ‘food strategy for Britain’.

Mr Gove said: ‘We will reform food labelling so that we uphold the highest animal welfare standards and give consumers the information they need to stay safe.’

In his main announcement, the Environment Secretary announced plans to use food destined to be dumped by the major retailers to provide 250 million meals to those in need.

The collaboration, involving the supermarkets, charities and the Government, will prevent food with a retail value of close to £1billion being thrown away.

Michael Gove (pictured at the Tory conference today) had launched a pioneering initiative to end the scandal of supermarket food waste

Mr Gove said: ‘Nobody wants to see good food go to waste. It harms our environment, it’s bad for business – and it’s morally indefensible. Every year, around 100,000 tonnes of readily available and perfectly edible food is never eaten. This has got to change.’

The £15million pilot project will help establish a national scheme to distribute food that is going out of date to local charities and voluntary groups who will send out meals.

Recipients could include school breakfast clubs, old people’s homes, disabled groups and the homeless.

The new scheme will focus on fresh produce rather than store cupboard staples. Junk food will be discouraged.

In some cases fresh food, such as fruit, vegetables, bread and meat, will be distributed directly. In others, volunteers will use it to produce meals for distribution.

Last year, the group FareShare distributed 28.6 million meals using surplus food.

Food waste campaigner Ben Elliot welcomed the move, saying the amount of food dumped by the major supermarkets was ‘a scandal’.

The Environment Secretary (pictured addressing Tory activists today) announced plans to use food destined to be dumped by the major retailers to provide 250 million meals to those in need

Mr Elliot, a businessman who volunteers with a charity called the Felix Project, which distributes surplus food in London, said: ‘We all know that food is often perfectly good long after the best before date set by the supermarket. It is a scandal that so much is thrown away. It is indefensible that you can have a homeless person sat just a few yards away while sacks of food are taken away to be dumped.

‘There are already lots of people getting involved in trying to make sure this food gets to where it is needed, but this initiative can make a real difference in setting up a proper infrastructure.’

Charity in memory of boss’s tragic son

The Felix Project was founded in memory of a 14-year-old boy who died suddenly from a rare strain of meningitis.

Newspaper chairman Justin Byam Shaw and his wife Jane set up the charity in 2016 after the death of their son Felix. It collects surplus produce from food suppliers and delivers it free to charities, schools, community halls and food banks.

The food is used to make hot, nutritious meals or snacks for those in need. Produce from more than 200 wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers including Sainsbury’s, Amazon Fresh, Fortnum & Masons, Waitrose, Mash, Tilda and Natoora is saved from going to landfill.

Food for nearly 3 million meals a year is provided to over 200 charities and schools by 15 staff and over 400 volunteers with a fleet of 15 vans from two depots in London. Backers include musicians Mumford & Sons and Michael Kiwanuka.

Government-funded waste reduction group Wrap estimates the retail sector is responsible for about 260,000 tonnes of food waste every year, more than half of which could be used. Existing schemes already distribute about 43,000 tonnes of surplus food every year.

But Wrap estimates that a further 100,000 tonnes of food is currently going to waste which could be salvaged.

Mr Gove has now secured £15million from the Treasury to fund a one-year scheme, with the hope it will be extended indefinitely.

A Whitehall source said: ‘Michael is horrified by the amount of food going to waste. There are lots of groups out there who want to help and many of the supermarkets are willing to co-operate. But there is a distribution problem of getting the food from where it is to the people who need it. That is where we believe there is a role for Government.’

Ministers will consult on the exact design of the scheme later this year. But sources stressed that none of the money will go to the supermarkets.

Much of supermarket food waste is used in animal feed or to generate energy using so-called ‘anaerobic digesters’. But some is sent to landfill. Across the world, around one-third of all food is thrown away. In the UK alone, official figures show that 10.2 million tonnes of food is wasted every year.

The new scheme is part of a wider ‘Resources and Waste’ strategy to be published by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural affairs later this year.

This is likely to include a number of measures to encourage families to try and cut the amount of food they throw away.

KEY QUESTIONS PRET TRAGEDY RAISES ABOUT UK FOOD LABELLING REGULATIONS

The inquest into the death of teenager Natasha Ednan-Laperouse has brought food regulations and allergy labelling of products to the fore.

Food regulation expert Dr Richard Hyde, associate professor in law at the University of Nottingham, has set out the key issues.

– What is the current law?

Dr Hyde explained that the law at the moment, the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation and the UK Food Information Regulations 2014, is that if there are any of 14 different types of allergens contained within food they should be highlighted on the label of the product – but this only applies to pre-packaged food that is already made before it reaches the shop or restaurant in which it is being sold. Non-prepackaged food does not have to have a specific label attached to the specific food, according to the current law.

– What is the problem with this law?

During the inquest into the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, coroner Dr Sean Cummings heard that Pret A Manger operates under regulation 5 of the Food Information Regulations, as their outlets have kitchens adjacent preparing fresh food which is then packed and displayed for sale. Dr Cummings pointed out that one of the effects of regulation 5 is that it allows for the ‘incomplete labelling of food products’. It allows for a ‘general description’ but does not require identification of allergens in bold lettering on the packet. Dr Hyde pointed out that businesses can direct consumers to ask for information about allergens, rather than providing the information in writing.

– What are the 14 allergens?

Cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites at a particular concentration, lupin and molluscs.

– What can actually change?

Dr Hyde said the Government can apply a more ‘stringent’ requirement in relation to non-prepackaged food. He said it can amend the current regulations and require that allergens are specifically highlighted in writing. Dr Hyde said he thinks the UK regulations should change to require businesses to set out in writing what allergens are in a particular product, that there should be a ‘duty’ to set out and declare what the allergens are, rather than putting the onus on the consumer.

– How easy would it be to change the law?

Dr Hyde said it would be relatively simple as it is set out in a statutory instrument, meaning a change does not have to be made by an Act of Parliament.

– Would there be any opposition?

Small businesses, such as some restaurants that cook new menus every day, may find it to be quite a burden to have to produce an allergy list every day, Dr Hyde pointed out. However, he said he would not anticipate much opposition generally, given the damaging consequences of someone not being aware of an allergen in food.

– Would Brexit affect any of this?

Dr Hyde said the overall regulation comes from an EU piece of legislation, including the 14 listed allergens. He suggested that post-Brexit the list of 14 allergens could be extended to include more.

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