Do you eat food past its ‘best before’ date?

4 December 2017

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This week the East of England Co-op joined the likes of online retailer Approved Food and others in selling food beyond its 'best before' date to try to reduce waste (read more on what 'best before' means). When you find food at home past its best before, what do you do?

This week the East of England Co-op joined the likes of online retailer Approved Food and others in selling food beyond its 'best before' date to try to reduce waste (read more on what 'best before' means).

When you find food at home past its best before, what do you do?

Results

I’m female aged under 25 (313 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		15 votes (5%)
I usually chuck it out		31 votes (10%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		171 votes (55%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		96 votes (31%)

I’m female aged 25 – 34 (1363 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		49 votes (4%)
I usually chuck it out		84 votes (6%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		760 votes (56%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		470 votes (34%)

I’m female aged 35 – 49 (2940 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		96 votes (3%)
I usually chuck it out		154 votes (5%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		1551 votes (53%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		1139 votes (39%)

I’m female aged 50 – 64 (3329 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		79 votes (2%)
I usually chuck it out		141 votes (4%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		1758 votes (53%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		1351 votes (41%)

I’m female aged 65+ (1421 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		22 votes (2%)
I usually chuck it out		43 votes (3%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		704 votes (50%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		652 votes (46%)

I’m male aged under 25 (256 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		23 votes (9%)
I usually chuck it out		25 votes (10%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		134 votes (52%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		74 votes (29%)

I’m male aged 25 – 34 (903 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		41 votes (5%)
I usually chuck it out		80 votes (9%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		473 votes (52%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		309 votes (34%)

I’m male aged 35 – 49 (1233 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		57 votes (5%)
I usually chuck it out		108 votes (9%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		610 votes (49%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		458 votes (37%)

I’m male aged 50 – 64 (1284 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		39 votes (3%)
I usually chuck it out		59 votes (5%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		556 votes (43%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		630 votes (49%)

I’m male aged 65+ (1026 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		20 votes (2%)
I usually chuck it out		30 votes (3%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		395 votes (38%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		581 votes (57%)

I’m agender (or I don’t wish to disclose my gender) (50 votes)

I always chuck out anything past its best before		5 votes (10%)
I usually chuck it out		8 votes (16%)
I tend to use the ‘sniff and sight’ test to decide		16 votes (32%)
I ignore best-befores and eat anyway unless it’s obviously off		21 votes (42%)

                   14,118 votes received.

We try to use technology to limit voting to one per person. Occasionally, this may erroneously block a few people's votes (eg, from shared offices). Apologies for that.