Thriving trade in past shelf-life groceries

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jan/22/shoppers-out-of-date-groceries

With food prices on the rise and consumers looking for ways to save money, a thriving trade is being done online by websites selling discounted groceries past their official shelf lives.

Following on from the success of the freecycle movement which allows members swap unwanted household goods, sites offering clearance, short-dated and out-of-date food and drink have become the latest way to both cut costs and reduce waste.

One website, approvedfood.co.uk, this week reported a 500% year on year increase in sales in the last week of December, while another, foodbargains.co.uk, is running an apology on its website over backlogged orders due to high demand.

Environmental campaigners have welcomed the trend, saying it can help to reduce Britain's huge mountain of food waste.

Food charities estimate that more than seventeen million tonnes of surplus food, including fresh produce, is dumped by supermarkets in landfill every year, with a sales value of more than £18bn.

Most of the goods sold on discount sites are past their "best-before dates" but not the "use-by" dates, and have been bought at knocked-down prices from wholesalers, suppliers and supermarkets.

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