Co-op to sell out of date food including fruit, vegetable and pasta – with prices starting from 20p

THE Southern Co-op is to start selling out of date food including fruit, vegetables and pasta in a bid to cut down on food waste.

The food is passed its best before date – by up to two days if its fresh or seven days if its dried – and prices will start at 20p.

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It means shoppers will be able to pick up discounted tinned fruit, veg, dried pasta and rice, confectionary, condiments, sugar and sweetners, coffee, tea and jams.

From the fresh food aisles, customers can expect to bag bargain soft fruits and fruit juices.

The grub is perfectly safe to eats as long as it’s been stored correctly as the best before date indicates when food is at its best in terms of quality.

Food that has passed its best before date may not taste as good or have a different texture, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Typically, these dates are applied to the packets of frozen, dried and tinned goods.

It’s food that has passed its use-by date that is unsafe to eat, such as gone-off meat produces or read-to-eat-salads, warns the FSA.

Shoppers will probably want to eat the food shortly after purchasing it from the Co-op, before the quality deteriorates further.

However, only 13 Southern Co-op stores – which is part of the Co-op Group – out of the 201 shops in the south of England will be running the 12-week trial.

It comes after a successful run at two stores in Hampshire – you see the full list of participating stores in the box above.

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The retailer said the scheme could be rolled out to more of its shops if it’s a success.

The East of England Co-op has been running a similar scheme since 2017 at all 125 of its shops.

No other supermarket in the UK is currently selling food beyond its best before date, although Morrisons sells boxes of food close to expiry through the Too Good To Go app.

There are also online retailers dedicate to selling food beyond the best before date, such as Approved Food and Cut Price Barry’s.

The goods are sold at a reduced price – one shopper shaved £70 off her grocery bill by shopping for “out of date” food.

The Southern Co-op hopes the move will help tackle the 5million tonnes of food thrown away in the UK every year.

It’s green plans includes reducing its greenhouse emissions from their direct operations by 50% by 2030, compared to 2019.

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Gemma Lacey, director of sustainability and communications at Southern Co-op, said: “People are more aware than ever of the impact of unnecessary food waste.

“We want to go one step further and prove that a large number of products are still tasty and good enough to eat past their “best before” date.

“We hope this will also raise awareness that there are products in the back of people’s cupboards which don’t need to be thrown away.”

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk