This data taken from Léger’s survey proves revealing for Nicolas Dot, manager and publicist of Too Good To Go, who commissioned the survey.
Quebecers want to have expiration dates on hand when it comes to knowing whether food will be eaten or thrown away.
Nationally, two types of indication coexist in grocery stores, in addition to the words “Packaged on”:
- “Best before” : The date until which a product is at its best in terms of freshness and taste quality. It is only required on products that remain fresh for 90 days or less. We can think of the date which appears on dairy products, on bakery products or on cereal products.
- Expiration date : The date after which the product may pose a health risk and be unfit for consumption. Less common, this date is found on infant formulas and shakes protein.
The spokesperson for the social impact company which fights against food waste believes that there is still confusion around the definition of these indications.
Every week, 43% of 228 respondents admit to throwing away food with a “best before” date that has passed.
“The product is still perfectly edible a few days – sometimes weeks – after the date [“meilleur avant”]. It is obviously necessary to carry out sensory tests, but the risk is very small, almost non-existent.
Still according to the Léger survey, fruits and vegetables (63%) as well as leftovers from a meal (47%) are most often left off the table. Food spoiled (68%) or forgotten at the bottom of a refrigerator (35%) are among the main reasons for waste at home.
Inspire new habits
According to’Study to quantify food losses and waste in Quebec published by Recyc-Québec in 2018, 28% of edible food lost or wasted came from households.
This is the part of the pie that Too Good To Go, headquartered in Denmark, wants to tackle.
Encouraging consumers to use their senses to judge the quality of food is one of the keys to reducing the amount of food waste, according to Mr. Dot.
Nicolas Dot, manager and public relations specialist at the social impact company To Good To Go
(Jessica Garneau/Archives La Tribune)
To do this, the “Observe, Smell, Taste” pictogram will now be printed on the packaging of 15 Canadian companies. These have identified the products that are best suited to this.
The incentive will be found, among others, on some products made in Quebec including La Vache qui rit cheeses (Montreal), Aliments Capel pancake mixes (Victoriaville) and sparkling beverages made from unsold fruit from Flirt (Gatineau). .
Too Good To Go’s anti-waste initiative is crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The movement had already been implemented in more than 500 brands spread across 13 European countries.
“Canada established itself quite quickly as a country that was probably going to be very receptive to this initiative,” he says, while 90% of those questioned say they are aware of the amount of food waste they produce.
The Too Good To Go pictogram will be found on selected products from 15 Canadian companies. (Too Good To Go)
If a sensitivity seems to be already well anchored among Quebecers, it remains to mobilize them.
“I think there is a lot to deconstruct. This is the aim of the initiative. It’s about reducing food waste at home and showing everything we can do to help our planet and save money in the current context,” he puts on the table.
The survey was conducted online with a sample of 228 Quebecers randomly selected from Léger’s online panel. Data was collected from September 7 to 18, 2023.
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