I eat food past its best-before date, Environment Secretary Liz Truss reveals

The minister says he's happy to cut mouldy bits off food

Environment Secretary Liz Truss (Getty Images)

The Environment Secretary has said she eats food beyond its “best before” date, during a discussion about how to reduce food waste.

Liz Truss made the comments at the launch of the Government’s new “food and drink pioneers” programme – appointed ambassadors who will help promote British food around the world.

The minister said everyone had a responsibility to stop binning so much food.

Asked whether she personally eats food beyond its Best Before date, Ms Truss said she was not averse to cutting off mouldy bits and eating the rest.

“Definitely. I will just see if it smells OK and eat it. Absolutely,” she said, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

“I'm of the school that if the cheese has got mould on it just cut the end off and eat the rest of the cheese.”

The minister is also calling for supermarkets to scale back buy-one-get-one-free deals on the basis that they are believed to contribute significantly to food waste.

The ambassadors appointed by Ms Truss include celebrity chef Raymond Blanc and restaurateur Henry Dimbleby.

Best before dates and are from “Use by” dates – and refer to quality as opposed to food safety.

This summer MPs called for a new law making it illegal for supermarkets to throw away edible food. A similar rule already exists in France.

The supermarket Morrisons announced last week that it would become the first supermarket in the UK to voluntarily donate all of its waste food to charity.

The supermarket successfully trialled the programme in 112 of its outlets in the North East and Yorkshire.

Other supermarkets, including Tesco, also participate in waste food re-use programmes.