OXFORDSHIRE Waste Partnership has welcomed new Government rules to stop food retailers listing confusing sell-by dates on packaging.

Manufacturers will no longer be allowed to publish sell-by dates which prompt many to bin edible food.

Nationwide £12 billion of good food is chucked away needlessly each year, cost-ing the average family £680.

Last week Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said firms should only include use-by dates for food which becomes dangerous to eat, and best-before dates for jars, bottles, cans, and other foods which remain safe, even if they deteriorate over time.

The new Government advice says sell-by and display-until labels should be removed, because they only relate to stock control.

Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (OWP), which includes all of Oxfordshire’s six local authorities, said labels had been confusing for a long time.

Paul Mocroft, who runs OWP’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign said: “We often talk to people who throw food away as soon as it’s past the sell-by date when there’s nothing wrong with the food.

“Anything that makes it easier for the public to get the most out of their food and waste less is good for residents and for councils.”

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