Laura Shaughnessy is the former managing editor at Dockwalk.
What if you could minimize food waste? That’s what Too Good To Go, a food waste initiative in the UK, is doing. In October 2020, they unveiled their Nose Sense campaign, which consists of “Smell-By” labels — scratch-and-sniff stickers that let consumers use their nose to decide if their food is “too good to go” or if it should be tossed.
“Our love for food is stronger than ever since the first lockdown, but the food waste issue hurts both the environment and our pockets. Our mission is to help everyone fight food waste together," says Jamie Crummie, Co-founder of Too Good To Go.
They came out with labels for four food staples: eggs, orange juice, beer, and oats, which they hope will help prevent the £625 million-worth of food wasted in the UK annually. According to Fine Dining Lovers, these sticker labels are part of the process of educating and training consumers about what food would smell like if it was actually no longer okay to eat.
“Our love for food is stronger than ever since the first lockdown, but the food waste issue hurts both the environment and our pockets. Our mission is to help everyone fight food waste together," says Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To Go. “We want labeling to be clearer across the board, but also to help consumers better understand when they really must throw food away — and these Smell By labels are a vital part of that journey.”
In the UK, “best before” labels are about food quality, so even if the best-before date has passed, it just means that its flavor and texture might not be as good as when you first bought it. But you can still eat it. On the other hand, “use by” labels are about food safety and should be eaten by the date on the produce, such as fresh meat products or ready-to-eat salad.
“One thing to note is that the labels themselves were not put on products but instead we had 5,000 to give away at the time of the campaign, and these have all now been claimed,” Crummie explained. Too Good To Go also has an app that helps connect users with businesses that have surplus food.
Follow Too Good To Go on Instagram @TooGoodToGo.UK.
This column is taken from the March 2021 issue of Dockwalk.