More than 700 million eggs are thrown away every year in the UK at a cost of £139m because we rely too much on ‘best before’ dates
- Food waste campaigners Too Good To Go recommend testing eggs in water
- Even the FSA say eggs can be eaten two days after their best before date
- The UK bins an estimated 10.2million tonnes of good food a year
More than 700 million eggs are thrown away every year due to over-reliance on ‘best before’ dates, according to food waste campaigners.
The group Too Good To Go says a simple test involving a bowl of water will allow people to use eggs they might otherwise throw away.
It claims that eggs that sink to the bottom of the bowl remain good to eat.
More than 700 million eggs are being thrown away because of people abiding by ‘best before’ dates
Even the government’s own food safety watchdog, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) says eggs can be safely eaten up to two days past their best before date provided they are cooked thorough to the point the yolk and white are solid.
The fact that good eggs are being thrown out is part of a wider problem, with the nation binning an estimated 10.2million tonnes of good food a year with an estimated value of £20billion, which equates to £300 per person.
Huge amounts of milk, bread and fresh produce is going into bins despite the fact that improvements in storage and preparation, including freezing, would give them a much longer life.
Too Good To Go operates through an app that provides help to avoid food waste and it says 720 million eggs costing £139million are wasted every year.
Too Good To Go recommend testing eggs in water. If they sink they are good to eat but if they float they are rotten
Research by the group found that around one in three consumers rely on best before dates and fewer than one in four know how to check freshness using a bowl of water.
‘If eggs sink to the bottom and lay flat on their sides, they’re very fresh,’ a spokesman said. ‘If they’re less fresh but still good to eat, they’ll stand on one end at the bottom of the bowl. If they float to the surface, they’re no longer fresh enough to eat.’
The group’s survey found that more than two in three people would throw away fewer eggs if they knew how to test for freshness.
Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To Go, said: ‘If you’ve been throwing your eggs in the bin based on the dates on the box, you’ve probably been wasting perfectly good food.’