"No date, helps reduce waste" For whose benefit is this?

YoungBlueEyes

I think it’s like this : 

Retailers started it because it benefited them (easier stock control etc)

The Great Unwashed caught on, and started ruffling through to get the ‘good’ dates. 

They’re abandoning it now because it’s producing too much waste (ie the short dates that the Great Unwashed are now leaving on the shelf) because we’ve learned. 

So yes it’s about waste, but not the little bits in our kitchen bins. It’s the bladdy huge skipfuls that the sm’s can’t palm off on us (in the £1.50 boxes etc) anymore because we wised up! 

mac.d

General_Grant said:

Salamat said:

So far, despite several replies to the thread, I've not seen anything convincing to suggest that the move is in the consumer's benefit!

Wasn't the original retailer-promoted benefit for the consumer that:
those who throw out edible food  because of a date printed on packaging
would not waste so much food and thereby not waste so much of their money?

That's not to deny it can benefit the retailer.

The key here is "retailer-promoted benefit for the consumer". Like smart meters for your energy and how we can all save money with a smart meter, when the reality is that's not strictly true. They might make you more aware of what you are using & possibly use less, but if you still need to do a washing, or still need the heating on, a smart meter won't help and if you are already aware of what you use it won't save anything. Whereas for the retailer, it makes things a lot easier.

jon81uk

I bought a bag of the 19p potatoes before Christmas, no idea what the date is but they are still fine, I tend to select them on how they look rather than the date anyway.

I'm still toasting bread with a best before of the 28 December, will eat it until mould appears. Yes I do check the dates in the store to find the freshest and with bread it is harder to tell. But with fruit and veg its quite easy to select the items on appearance and touch.

Salamat

Today's shop! Get home and start putting away, and finger sinks into a rotting orange! Even came from the tray underneath as I expected them to be fresher! I'm not checking every orange, individuallty, in-store, before buying! "No date helps reduce waste" Yes, sure!!!

GingerTim

That's happened to me plenty of times when buying soft fruit with a date on it, so I'm not sure that's a slam-dunk against not dating fruit and veg.

Katiehound

and I have a bag of carrots bought on Tuesday- no date- just a code and more than half the carrots have rotten parts. Not good.

Mnoee

Salamat said:

Today's shop! Get home and start putting away, and finger sinks into a rotting orange! Even came from the tray underneath as I expected them to be fresher! I'm not checking every orange, individuallty, in-store, before buying! "No date helps reduce waste" Yes, sure!!!

The 001 on the label means they're pretty old. Check that instead. 

jon81uk

Katiehound said:

and I have a bag of carrots bought on Tuesday- no date- just a code and more than half the carrots have rotten parts. Not good.

Did you not spot that when picking up the bag? Might be better buying loose ones? Before Christmas I went through about 10 bags before I found one of the 19p ones that wasn't full of split carrots.

dealyboy

Hi GT ...

GingerTim said:

That's happened to me plenty of times when buying soft fruit with a date on it, so I'm not sure that's a slam-dunk against not dating fruit and veg.

... soft fruit yes, i.e. plums, berries, cherries etc, but not oranges surely.

Hi Jon ...

jon81uk said:

Katiehound said:

and I have a bag of carrots bought on Tuesday- no date- just a code and more than half the carrots have rotten parts. Not good.

Did you not spot that when picking up the bag? Might be better buying loose ones? Before Christmas I went through about 10 bags before I found one of the 19p ones that wasn't full of split carrots.

Split carrots are generally fine and are not caused by old stock, but black marks and squashy ends have been experienced by many, as has chemical type odours.

Of course whether to buy bagged or loose is a matter of choice but goes against the pre-packed only trend in recent years which includes meat and fish as well.

GingerTim

dealyboy said:

Hi GT ...

GingerTim said:

That's happened to me plenty of times when buying soft fruit with a date on it, so I'm not sure that's a slam-dunk against not dating fruit and veg.

... soft fruit yes, i.e. plums, berries, cherries etc, but not oranges surely.

Hi Jon ...

jon81uk said:

Katiehound said:

and I have a bag of carrots bought on Tuesday- no date- just a code and more than half the carrots have rotten parts. Not good.

Did you not spot that when picking up the bag? Might be better buying loose ones? Before Christmas I went through about 10 bags before I found one of the 19p ones that wasn't full of split carrots.

Split carrots are generally fine and are not caused by old stock, but black marks and squashy ends have been experienced by many, as has chemical type odours.

Of course whether to buy bagged or loose is a matter of choice but goes against the pre-packed only trend in recent years which includes meat and fish as well.

Definitely oranges, satsumas, clementines, etc - I wouldn't say it's unusual to get the odd bad one in a net.