Almost 120 kg per year: this is what the average Swiss throws away, in purchased and uneaten food. A representative study commissioned by the resale company Too Good To Go deciphers the phenomenon, which weighs significantly on the country’s carbon footprint, and highlights the main reason for this waste: the strict application of the date written on the package (read below).
The phenomenon is particularly marked among young people. Some 71% of 18-24 year olds do not check if a product is still good before getting rid of it, while 62% of over 55s systematically do so when the minimum durability date (MBD) has been reached. However, this should not be confused with the expiration date.
A linguistic or cultural divide is also noted: 82% of French-speaking people think that a food whose MBD has passed can no longer be consumed without risk, and 21% therefore throw them away directly, while these figures do not rise respectively 73% and 15% on the German-speaking side. As a result, 45% of the Swiss look for products with the longest shelf life, compared to 29% in Germany and 32% in Austria.
However, most of the products disdained by the Swiss would be perfectly consumable, recalls Too good to go. If the expiry date must be observed relatively strictly depending on the product, the DDM is mainly indicative and concerns above all the appearance and texture, although the food is still perfectly consumable.
The French-speaking Consumer Federation (FRC) offers a short guide by food category, reminding us that if meat and fish are rather sensitive, this is already a little less the case for cheese, yogurt and eggs. For dry products, in particular, it is above all the adage “observe, smell, taste” that must be applied: trust your senses to determine if the food is still good rather than throwing it away blindly.
To be consumed preferably…
To find your way around, the simplest way is to decode the inscription on the package, summarizes the FRC: “consume until…” is the sign of an expiry date, to be followed carefully, while “best consumed before…” indicates a MDD. As for the words “for sale before…”, “manufactured on…” or even “packaged on…”, they are optional and indicative only.
