Food waste app Too Good To Go has launched a set of scratch and sniff labels to educate consumers on what foods smell like when they have gone off.
The intention of the ‘smell-by’ labels is that shoppers will “let their nose dictate if that food is inedible” rather than “using best -before dates as gospel”, said Too Good To Go.
Research commissioned by the company last month found a third of Brits are guided solely by item labels as to when to throw food away. Only a third of respondents were found to know eggs can be eaten past the date on packaging.
The smell-by labels cover common staples eggs, juice, beer and oats. Together, the categories account for £625m and 333,000 tonnes of avoidable waste per year. According to the survey, only a quarter of Brits would reconsider throwing away eggs, juice, oats and beer past its label date.
“We hope a better understanding of the smells that four of the most widely-used best-before foods give out when off, will save them from being thrown out purely based by their date – a common-sense shortcut in evaluating when food is truly off,” said Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To Go.
The stickers form part of a “broader education initiative” by Too Good To Go. The company is working with the ‘world’s first S’Mellier’ Dariush Alavi on the project.
“Our mission is to help everyone fight food waste together. We want labelling to be clearer across the board, but also to help consumers better understand when they really must throw food away – and these smell-by labels are a vital part of that journey,” Crummie added.
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