WRAP’s latest retail survey shows that actions are being taken on how food is labelled by retailers and brands to help people avoid food waste happening at home, however, it says that more needs to be done.
With COP27 fresh in people’s minds, WRAP, the climate action non-governmental organisation (NGO), is also warning that more needs to be done to help curb the impact the UK’s food waste is having on climate change.
To help reduce food waste further and faster, WRAP’s Retail Survey assessed actions against best practice guidance developed by WRAP, in association with the Food Standards Agency and Defra.
It estimates these changes could reduce household food waste by at least 350,000 tonnes per year if fully implemented. The survey analysed practices across the eleven major UK retailers, and reviewed progress since the NGO’s last assessment in 2019, WRAP says.
With cost-of-living and food prices rising, it’s never been more important to help people avoid costly food waste.
The focus was given to date label application, the use of “open life” (“best within x days of opening”), storage advice and freezing, defrosting and useful advice.
Director of Collaboration and Change, WRAP, Catherine David, said: “With cost-of-living and food prices rising, it’s never been more important to help people avoid costly food waste, which for many families can top £730 a year.
“How food is sold and labelled can have a huge influence in helping people better manage food at home. Excellent progress has been made in some areas while there is still lots of work to be done elsewhere.
“The last few years have been unprecedented for businesses, but we must see more high-impact changes implemented. WRAP will continue to work with retailers to push these changes forward and will be conducting regular Retail Surveys to more closely monitor change.”
WRAP has identified a string of positive trends in its 2021 Retail Survey that it says can help address common causes of food waste in the home. WRAP has also outlined areas where improvements are required and fed back to the UK’s largest retailers where more work is required on their shelves.
The best practice can be used on all types of products but the retail survey focuses on items that are most wasted in our homes, WRAP says – including fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy and bread.
WRAP found general storage advice remains good in terms of where best to store items, with a marked increase in advice promoting numerical fridge temperature settings, rising by 10% on 2019 levels to 41% on relevant products.
With current levels of inflation impacting the cost of everyday food items, it is more important than ever not to waste it.
This is important, WRAP says, as most fridges in the UK are too warm and keeping them below 5°C helps keep all the food in the fridge both safe and fresher for longer. Conversely, WRAP found a reduction in the use of a key icon – the “little blue fridge” – indicating items should be stored in the fridge, below 5°C to extend their shelf life, especially on uncut fruit and vegetables.
Freezing and defrosting advice has seen many improvements, WRAP says, with the increased use of the snowflake icon indicating freezing options on bread, meat, and poultry items. WRAP recorded a significant increase across the board in defrosting advice – from 27% in 2019 to 67% in 2021.
Commenting on WRAP’s latest retail survey, Policy & External Affairs Director at CIWM, Lee Marshall, said: “With current levels of inflation impacting the cost of everyday food items, it is more important than ever not to waste it. This makes good sense, both from an environmental and household budgeting point of view, and clearly demonstrates that action on the climate crisis is a win-win for everyone.
“The work WRAP has done with the retail sector through the Courtauld Commitment 2030 and the progress that has been made on improvements to food labelling is ground-breaking and shows what is possible when it comes to reducing food wastage, but more could and should be done.
“CIWM would urge any actors in the food supply chain who are not yet part of the Courtauld Commitment to join this important work and play their role in helping to reduce the impacts of food waste on our climate.”
