Some fruits and vegetables in supermarkets may be expired (Image: Getty)

It’s part of any trip to the supermarket: check the expiration date on the product before throwing it in your cart.

The “best before date” is generally a measure of quality, taste, and freshness added by the manufacturer, and is very different from the “best before date” which deals with food safety.

You can use the expiration date to see if your bread is good for a few days worth of sandwiches, or to decide if you need to spread with a slice of fresh strawberry.

However, it seems that changes are taking place in some supermarkets and little by little they are beginning to eliminate the preferred consumption label in some fresh products.

So which supermarkets are doing away with sell-by dates and why is this all happening?

Everything you need to know is here.

What is the best supermarket to dispose of before a date?

waitrose supermarket

Changes coming to Waitrose in September 2022 (Image: Getty)

Some supermarkets have already collapsed, Waitrose being the most recent example.

This change will take effect from September 2022 and will apply to a total of around 500 new products, especially many self-packaged fruits and vegetables.

Other supermarkets that have made similar changes include Co-op, Tesco and Marks & Spencer.

M&S announced in July that more than 300 new products had removed the “expired” label, while Tesco made changes to around 116 fruit and vegetable products in 2018.

Please note that this does not affect the expiration date set for security purposes.

Also, not all agricultural products are affected. This is because many non-perishable products enter stores with an expiration date already entered by the manufacturer rather than the supermarket.

Interestingly, Morrisons announced in January this year that its own-brand dairy products will operate without a best before date, opting for a “smell test” for consumers.

Why is it better to cancel a supermarket before a date?

Woman looking at fruits in supermarket

Most of the affected perishables appear to be fruits and vegetables (Image: Getty)

Basically, some places don’t specify “best before” labels to combat food waste.

According to the latest estimates from the Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), 9.5 million tonnes of food was wasted in the UK in one year (2018).

Of this, 70% of food waste comes from households (6.6 million tons). Only 30% of this figure is the “inedible part” of food.

And of course food waste is far from ideal.

Well, for one, it’s wasteful and expensive, but it’s also very bad for the environment.

Garbage in trash can

These dates “keep people from making judgments when the food is still delicious,” says WRAP (Image: Getty)

Food waste was associated with 36 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, according to the latest WRAP report.

The argument is that “better before” encourages people to throw away food while it’s still fully edible.

Instead, people are asked to decide for themselves.

Catherine David, Director of Collaboration and Transformation at WRAP, said:

Mariya Rompani, Director of Sustainability at The John Lewis Partnership (owner of Waitrose) added:

“By removing expiration dates on our products, we want consumers to make their own decisions about whether or not the product is edible.

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