Too Good To Go has teamed up with popular FMCG brands on a date-labelling campaign, as part of its efforts to fight global food waste.
Too Good To Go – the social-impact company behind the world’s largest surplus food app – has teamed up with a number of leading Irish brands to address the confusion surrounding food labels.
The ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ campaign, launched on Monday, aims to raise consumer awareness about the difference between use-by and best-before labels.
The initiative aims to encourage the nation to use their senses to determine whether food past its best-before date is still good to eat.
Participating brands such as Guinness Food Products, Ballymaloe Foods, Danone, Kellogg’s, and Wexford Cheese will now include a new ‘Look-Smell-Taste Don’t Waste’ label on their products, to guide consumers.
Musgrave (SuperValu) is also the first supermarket partner to trial the initiative in Ireland.
Research
New research – commissioned by Too Good To Go and carried out by Empathy Research – revealed that 14% of Irish adults mistakenly believe that a best-before label indicates that the food is unsafe to use after a specific date.
Just under a third of those surveyed (27%) worry that eating food waste on its best-before date will make them sick.
A staggering 25% of Irish households waste over €10 worth of food each week due to misunderstandings about best-before dates, which contributes unnecessarily to food waste.
To mitigate this, Too Good To Go is encouraging customers to adopt simple food waste reduction strategies, such as freezing surplus food and creating detailed shopping lists, to avoid surplus purchases.
Ireland now joins 13 other countries in which the Look-Smell-Taste test is live, with 530 partnering brands.
‘Taking The Time’
Speaking about the initiative, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, said, “The UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 aims to halve per-capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 2030.
“This ambition is reflected in Ireland’s [National] Food Waste Prevention Roadmap and in Food Vision 2030, the ten-year strategy for the agri-food sector, which include actions to prevent and reduce food waste.
“This initiative by Too Good To Go aims to help consumers to differentiate between use-by and best-before dates on food products in their homes because, in some cases, some food that has passed its best-before date may not need to be wasted, but may still be good to eat.
“We can all help achieve the 2030 target by identifying what food we waste in our households, why we waste food, and examining ways to reduce our food waste.
“Taking the time to evaluate food with the best-before dates is one way to manage and prevent food waste.”
‘Addresses Confusion’
Sophie Trueman, managing director for Ireland and the UK at Too Good To Go, added, “The partnership between Too Good To Go and these iconic Irish brands is a hugely positive step towards combatting food waste and reducing the environmental impact of food consumption across Ireland.
“The support and backing of these businesses play an important role in raising awareness about the issue of food waste to consumers, but also addresses the confusion surrounding food labels.
“The ‘Look-Smell-Taste’ campaign is another vital step in Too Good To Go’s mission to expand our sustainability efforts within the Irish market, and we encourage other food businesses and brands to join the initiative and reduce food waste and create a more sustainable future for all.”
Read More: Aldi Ireland And Too Good To Go Saved 200,000 Food Bags From Waste This Year
