All language subtitles for Sell.By.Dates.The.Surprising.Truth.2024.1080p.WEB.H264-CBFM

AMY DRAKE: In our supermarkets,

our fridges and our cupboards,

there's a secret code
few people really understand

but completely controls our lives.

I do find them
a little bit confusing.

Er... Ooh.
HE CHUCKLES

Some of us know them
as "sell-by dates".

To others, they are "best before"
or "use-by"s.

Some of us swear by them.
Some of us ignore them.

On a loaf of bread,
just cut off the mould.

Just toast it. It's fine.

But I eat food out the bin,

so I'm not sure
I'm the best person to ask.

But what do they even mean?

And when should we just hold
our noses and chow down?

In this programme,
we're speaking to the experts

to find out the truth
about these dates.

"Use-by" means "use-by",
and that's it.

There's no wiggle room at all.

And we're gonna do it
by sniffing whiffy milk...

That is the kind of thing
that you can't un-smell.

..prodding minging mince...

It just looks like a mush.
That means this is very far gone.

..and binning bad lettuce leaves.

I don't think
that's a good idea to eat that.

Plus, we'll reveal
the secret locations

where date labels can save you
a packet on your weekly shop.

It's kind to the planet,
it saves wastage,

and it saves you money. Why not?

This is Sell By Dates:
Are They A Con?

There's a baffling amount
of different date labels

printed on the foods we buy.

And which we need to follow
and which are a complete con

has left many of us
utterly bewildered.

I do find sell-by dates
and use-by dates quite confusing.

A use-by date would mean
exactly the same as a sell-by date

and best before date... to me.

I always struggle to remember
which one's which,

which ones can I use straight away,
and which ones...

"Oh, no, that's it. This is gone.

"It'll be dangerous
if you carry on eating."

And whilst some of us are confused,

others are taking it
into their own hands.

I tend not to take an awful lot
of notice of when it says "best by"

because I know
you've got a bit longer on that.

If it looks good,
and it smells good,

and it tastes fine, why waste it?

So, what dates
should we pay attention to?

Use-by dates you do not mess with.

If you ignore use-by dates
with certain foods,

I mean, particularly,
you know, meat or shellfish,

there is a chance
you could get seriously ill.

Use-by dates are found
on highly perishable foods.

So they can be found
on chicken, mince

and even on ready-to-eat salads.

Consuming food past its use-by date

can lead to serious
food-related illnesses,

caused by the likes
of campylobacter, salmonella,

E. coli, norovirus and listeria.

Yet despite the dangers,

the Food Standards Agency claims
a terrifying 50% of us

don't always check the use-by date
on the packet

before eating the food inside.

I tell food has gone off
by giving it a little whiff.

If it's got a bit of a smell to it,

then you think,
"No, I'm not gonna risk that."

Does it look good?
Is it still sealed in its container?

Does it still smell nice?

If it passes those tests,
then it's usually all right.

But is it, though?

And what about food
that's not past its use-by date

but hasn't been stored correctly?

How can we really tell
if highly perishable foods,

such as beef, chicken and salad,
is safe to eat?

Here's food scientist
Dr Chris Clarke

with some top tips
to spot festering food.

Use-by dates are essential

because it's not always possible
to tell when food is safe to eat.

However, there are certain tests
you can do in your own kitchen.

In front of Chris are mince beef,
chicken and salad leaves,

all well within their use-by dates.

Next to them are some far less
appetising blocks of mince

that are two and three weeks
past the dates on their packets,

as well as some chicken
and salad leaves

which are also both two weeks gone.

But what are the signs
we should be looking out for?

The first way we can tell
whether our meat is good

for din-dins or the bin-bins is...

..the colour test.

Now, with red meats, it contains
something called myoglobin.

Myoglobin is a protein found
in most meats

that help store oxygen
in muscle tissues.

It's either cherry red,

if it's been exposed
to little oxygen,

or a grey-brown colour,

if it's been exposed
to lots of oxygen.

This generally means
that it's older

and it's seen more time.

With poultry,
it's a little bit different.

You've got a nice pink colour
to start with,

and over time
and exposure to oxygen,

things go a bit more white and grey.

Again, this means the chicken
may be past its best.

And certainly not safe to eat.

Next...

it's the prod test.

When you push down on poultry,

you should find it has quite a firm
and elastic texture.

It should spring back
when you touch it.

However, older poultry
should have more of a soft texture.

This is because the proteins
have started to break down

and the elasticity is going,

which means it's certainly not OK
to eat.

This is no spring chicken.

Clearly.

And what about the beef?

Now, gone-off meat will tend to have
a bit of a shiny surface on it.

Kind of a sticky, gooey consistency,

where the structure's
broken down slightly.

This is because bacteria and enzymes
within the meat

have started to eat the proteins
on the surface,

making a gungy mess.

For an extreme close-up
of said gungy mess,

Dr Chris is using
a microscopic camera.

Now, if we start off
with this nice fresh mince here,

you find that the structure
is nicely intact.

That means
the proteins are all good

and there's not much deterioration
happening.

Whereas, if we have a look over here
at the aged mince,

we can see that that structure
has very much broken down now.

And does not look very nice.

In fact, it's hard to tell
any kind of structure at all.

It just looks like a mush.

That means this is very far gone.

And something you definitely
don't want to be using

in your spag bol.

And finally, the sniff test.

Get a little bit of the odour
from the food.

You'll find that
if it's quite rancid,

you will smell it,

and that's
because spoilage bacteria,

yeasts or moulds have already
started to set in their work.

That means it's no longer acceptable
to eat.

But be warned,

some bacteria,
like listeria and salmonella,

don't produce any smell at all
but could still make you very ill.

This means it could still have
potentially devastating consequences

for you and your toilet.

TOILET FLUSHES

Charming!

But what about salad leaves?
Surely they're harmless enough?

When it comes to salads,

you have to be very careful
because it is difficult to tell.

Now, certain indicators are
the salad might look shrunken,

less fresh, less crispy.

There might be a slight odour to it.

But the ultimate thing
is mainly knowledge

about how long
it's been out of the fridge.

If it's been out of the fridge
for a long time,

there can be proliferation
of bacteria that are very harmful.

Because of the way salad leaves
are grown and processed,

it can be contaminated with bacteria

such as E. coli,
salmonella and listeria,

all of which can multiply
very quickly

when left un-refrigerated
for long periods of time.

Therefore, if you know
it's been out of the fridge,

even for a couple of hours,
throw it away.

If you're in any doubt whatsoever,
don't risk it.

And if it's past the use-by date,
don't even think about it.

So it's pretty clear
use-by dates are not a con.

They play a vital role
in keeping us all safe.

But is it just us shoppers
who benefit?

Use-by dates are there
to certainly protect the consumer,

to make sure that they don't get
any risk of food poisoning.

But also, they're to protect
the food industry

because reputationally,
they don't want the consumer to say,

"I've got food poisoning
from your product."

If you then claim
you've got food poisoning

because you ate
this dodgy piece of chicken

or whatever it might be,
well, was it beyond its use-by date?

In which case, "Not our fault, guv.
It's your fault, the consumer."

Coming up...

Dr Chris exposes the myths
about mould on your cheese.

What I need to do
is some careful cutting.

And can our experts sniff out
the fresh from the fetid

when it comes to milk?

A little bit cheesy,
a little bit sock-y.

That is the kind of thing
you can't un-smell.

AMY DRAKE: Date labels
have been confusing British shoppers

for decades.

Which are a sham,
and which are sound advice?

Date labelling on food
is incredibly complicated.

For the simple reason most people
don't understand what they mean.

We're increasingly being told
to limit food waste,

to be a little bit more mindful
about wasting food,

but we also don't wanna
poison ourselves.

It's just very, very baffling.

But how on Earth did we get here?

When did date labels
first start appearing on food,

and why did they come to be
so confusing?

Well, if legend is to be believed,

it started across the pond
in Chicago almost 100 years ago

with the most unlikely
of trailblazers -

gangster Al Capone.

There is a rumour Al Capone
and his brother are responsible

for date labelling in the US.

They owned huge labelling machines
in the 1930s.

And the reason
they owned huge labelling machines

was because, ahem,
it was just after Prohibition

and they'd had
the labelling machines

for all their bootleg alcohol.

But with Prohibition
coming to an end,

they needed
a new more above-board enterprise

to keep their factories afloat.

They lobbied hard
with the Illinois state government

to put dates on milk.

Although some claim
he had other more caring motives.

There's a legend
that either a family member

or a friend of a friend got ill
from consuming sour milk

and that was one of the things
that prompted him to say,

"Right, you've got to have
date labels on your milk, guys."

What a considerate gangster he was.

AS AL CAPONE: "Milk. Milk.

"Am I gonna get ill
drinking this milk?"

There's the Valentine's Day Massacre
on one hand,

but also, he's a food safety
crusader on the other.

Unsurprisingly,
here in good old Blighty,

the history of date-stamping food
has far less illicit beginnings.

So, food date-labelling in the UK
was introduced by Marks & Spencer's.

Real innovation.

They started off in the 1950s
with putting dates on

purely for stock room rotation.

But it would be another 20 years
before M&S introduced sell-by dates

to food available for us to buy
in the store,

when in the early '70s,

they started printing date labels
on individual packets.

But back then food safety wasn't
exactly their main motivation.

They were mostly
a clothing retailer,

and the food business
just wasn't doing very well.

So sell-by dates were trialled

to help turn
their food fortunes around,

hoping to convince shoppers

that they took standards
extremely seriously.

What they really wanted to do
was to say that St Michael,

as it was known then,
was all about freshness.

So, the original sell-by date
is a marketing ploy

to persuade consumers,
"We've got fresh food. Come to us."

And that actually is the start
of M&S's reputation

of being, you know,
very high quality, super fresh.

You know, "We're a cut
above the rest of the supermarkets."

Other supermarkets
soon followed suit,

introducing sell-by dates
to many of their products, too.

Then, in 1980,

following a directive
by the European Council,

date labelling on most food
in Britain became the law.

Member states were allowed
to choose their own terminology,

and as British supermarkets
were already using "sell-by",

the Government opted
to stick to this

instead of the term "best before".

So, are sell-by dates a con?

Well, no,
because they don't exist any more.

They're meaningless.

They're a date for the supermarkets
to get rid of their food quickly.

They're not really a date
for consumers.

And lots
of anti-food-waste campaigners

realised this a long time ago

and they campaigned very hard
to get rid of sell-by dates.

And it's a huge victory to them

that actually, you won't find
sell-by dates in the UK any more.

Instead of "sell-by",

most supermarkets and food producers
use "best before"

or "best before end"

as a marker
of how fresh a product is.

So, why do we all still use
the term "sell-by date"?

If you ask most people
to talk through food dates,

they still,
because from their childhood,

"sell-by" was the prominent date
on the supermarket shelf.

They still refer to them
as "sell-by dates",

and they're not sell-by dates.

And the very fact
we refer to food date labellings

as "sell-by dates",

when there is no sell-by dates
left in supermarkets,

is in itself a problem.

Because we're kind of trapped
in the language of the 1970s

of making things look nice
rather than, "Is this safe to eat?"

So sell-by dates are out,
and best before dates are in.

But how many of us actually know
what they are?

Best before?

Erm...

Not sure.

I do find them
a little bit confusing

because best before dates
doesn't always mean

that's when the product goes off,
necessarily.

I just look for the date
on the packets,

and that means one thing to me,
pretty much when it's good to.

But what exactly
is a best before date?

And is it significant
or just a swizz?

A best before date
is really an indicator

of the freshness and quality
of the food that you're consuming.

If the best before date has passed,

there is a risk
the texture could be affected.

There is a risk
that the flavour might not be there.

It's an advice that you...

that the food might not be
as high quality after this date.

It's got nothing to do
with food safety.

Best before or best before end dates
appear on a vast array of products,

including food in tins and jars,

dried foods, such as pasta and rice,

frozen produce,

and crisps, nuts and chocolate,
to name a few.

I mean, the thing is,
we've got rid of sell-by dates.

Great. Big victory
for the battle against food waste.

But we've kind of almost
replaced them with best before,

which has...
comes with its own problems.

Because "best before",
in a lot of consumers' minds,

think, "Oh, well, after that date,
I've got to throw it away".

And who even decides

what the best before date
should actually be?

There is no best before head office
where these dates are made up.

In fact, it's up
to the manufacturers to decide

what the best before dates are,
depending on what the product is.

It's completely arbitrary.

And are the dates solely there
to help us?

There is a truth
that the supermarkets

and the food manufacturers benefit

from quite conservative
best before dates.

There's all sorts of things,

particularly tinned goods
and some jarred and bottled goods,

that would be fine
with a ten-year best before date.

And the food industry doesn't do it
cos they think,

"Oh, people will think
it's not very natural."

And also, it would stop us
going back to buy some more,

cos it would just always,

"Oh, we've still got one
at the back of the stock cupboard."

So, what needs to change?

They need to say,
"Best before date can be ignored".

Or maybe it should be changed
as, like, "Try and use before",

or "Might not be as crunchy
after this date."

Ultimately, the truth is that
best before dates are a guideline

rather than a rule.

And it's a guideline
that often needs careful scrutiny

in the form of the sniff test.

So, obviously, there are
real scientific complexities

to the sniff test.

I would, first of all,
start off opening it up

and just put my nose into the top.

And then if it smells OK,

I might get my nose
slightly further in if I can.

And then you need to confirm by...
HE SNIFFS

..just really getting in there
and giving it a gigantic sniff.

And then from there, you should know
what you're up against.

But is the sniff test
always reliable?

To help us find out, we've set
our panel of experts a challenge.

With all dates removed
and using just their sense of smell,

can they sniff out
which of these three milk cartons

is still within
its best before date,

which is a day over,

and which is a whopping two weeks
past the date on the label?

It's time for milk roulette.

First up, bottle A.

It smells milky but perfectly OK.

I mean,
it smells pretty fresh, yeah.

It just smells like milk.

To me, that smells absolutely fine.

I would gladly pour that
on my breakfast cereal.

All are in agreement
that bottle A is perfectly fresh

and safe to drink.

But what will they make of bottle B?

Hmm.
SHE SNIFFS

That's an interesting one.

I'm a little bit dubious.

Ooh, yeah.

That's... That's gone.
That has gone.

It just doesn't smell fresh.

A little bit cheesy,
a little bit sock-y. Erm...

Yeah. That is...
That is the kind of thing that...

you know, you can't un-smell.

Again, our panel are unanimous in
that bottle B has seen better days.

But what about our final offering?

Well, that's bottle C.

HE SNIFFS
Ooh!

Hmm.

This is an interesting one.

HE SNIFFS
I think that one's gone as well.

That, to me, smells super fresh.

If I was betting,
I'd say this is the freshest.

I'm not sure about this one. I...

I'm finding this quite tricky.

So uncertainty
over bottle C's freshness, too.

But will they be right,

or will they be crying
over spilt milk?

Well, the freshest of them all
was A,

which our panel all got right,

as it was still
well within its best before date.

They also got bottle B correct,

which was a milk-curdling two weeks
past the date on the label.

But bottle C split the vote,

as it was just one day past
its best before date.

So I got them right?
SHE CHEERS

Yes!

OK. I thought this was even fresher.

OK. So I can't really tell
the difference, yeah?

Genuinely embarrassingly happy
that I got that right.

So for most of the panel,

the sniff test on milk
did seem to work.

But would they still be prepared
to use the milks

with the expired dates?

Although C has just gone past
its best before date,

the sniff test was so similar to A,

I would definitely
still be using it.

And I would see that you could still
use it for several days.

But with bottle B,

it smelt suspicious enough
that I might want to test it

before pouring it on to my cereal,
or into my...

But equally, I'm not sure
I would've known it was off.

And if you thought milk was hard
to spot when its past its best,

where on Earth do you begin with
other dairy products, like cheese?

For that,
you need the eyeball test.

The likes of Stilton,
Gorgonzola and Roquefort

are all proudly riddled with mould,

and we often pay a pretty penny
for them.

But if there's mildew
on the mozzarella

or fur on the feta,

the chances are
it ends up in the bin.

So what's the deal?

When is mouldy cheese safe to eat,
and when isn't it?

Here with some top tips
on how to "brie" prepared... Sorry.

..it's food scientist,
Dr Chris Clarke.

To start with,
we should look at blue cheese

because that mould
is there intentionally.

This means
it doesn't produce any toxins

that could be potentially harmful
to humans.

Mould is a type of fungus,

and there are over 100,000 species
of them around the world.

But the one that is added
to the likes of Stilton,

Gorgonzola and Roquefort,

commonly known as blue mould,
is perfectly safe to eat.

As is the sort added
to white cheeses

like Brie and Camembert.

What we often refer to as the rind
is actually mould, too.

But what if it appears
on other cheeses?

Soft cheeses like ricotta,
cream cheese, things of that nature,

they're not supposed
to contain any mould at all.

If you see it, it's likely
throughout the entire cheese,

which means
you should throw it away.

As this mould can cause nausea,
stomach cramps,

diarrhoea and allergic reactions
if consumed.

The same thing goes
for any shredded,

crumbled or sliced cheese,

as this has
a really big surface area

and means that any mould
that's on it

has probably gone throughout.

But what about hard cheeses,
like cheddar and Parmesan?

Hard cheeses
are a slightly different story

because their structure stops mould
from digging in too deep.

This means that we can actually cut
some of the mould away

from hard cheeses,
if we do it in the right places.

What I need to do
is some careful cutting.

Dr Chris "care-Philly"
starts trimming his cheese.

All right, yeah,

that joke's probably past
its sell-by date.

Well, it would be,
if they still existed.

By cutting away about an inch
either side of the mould,

I should have removed
any potential spoilage.

That should now be safe to eat.

All we need now is chutney.

And the crackers,
grapes and red wine.

Coming up....

the shocking amount of food
we chuck away

due to date label confusion...

Families like mine are literally
throwing money in the bin.

..and the secret supermarkets
selling out-of-date food

at bargain basement prices.

It's kind to the planet,
it saves wastage,

and it saves you money.

Why not?

AMY DRAKE:
When it comes to food date labels,

working out what's a sham
and what's sound advice

can be more than a little confusing.

But flummoxed or not,

when these dates start
nearing their expiration,

there's one inevitable outcome
that puts us all in a better mood -

yellow sticker discounts.

The yellow sticker deal
is an icon of British life.

There's nothing more thrilling

than finding something
on the yellow sticker deal

at some unbelievably low price.

And, yeah, just feeling like
you've won... won at life.

For the uninitiated,

yellow sticker,
or "reduced to clear" labels,

are essentially price reductions
supermarkets place on items of food

nearing their use-by
or best before date.

And they've been exciting shoppers
for decades.

I think yellow sticker labels
are really good

because they can get you into food
that you wouldn't normally buy.

You can have an incredible feast
that you weren't anticipating,

and ultimately,
who doesn't wanna get a bargain?

For many of us,
they're the holy grail

of any trip to the shops.

But finding where exactly they are

can require
some serious detective skills.

So, the problem
with the yellow sticker deals

is they can be hard to track down,

especially if you don't know
the supermarket.

Imagine that you're going
on an adventure

and you've got to seek them out.

They're not gonna say,
"Here we are."

You've got to get them,
and that's a reward.

Some supermarkets
with yellow stickers

put them out at the end of the day.

Some put them out
at the beginning of the day.

And if you don't know
the supermarkets,

it can be a bit of a chaotic hunt
to try and get your bargain.

I know friends, nameless,
who go at a certain time

because they absolutely know
that what they want will be reduced

and they'll find it
in the chilled cabinet.

So you've got to be savvy.

But with savviness comes risk.

With food this close
to its expiry date,

and therefore, to going off,
there's an inevitable downside.

The problem with yellow stickers,
and indeed,

with any real bargain hunting,
is it encourages...

It's a dopamine hit
that the consumers get.

"Oh, my gosh! I've got a bargain.

"This is brilliant.
I've saved money."

But you get home
and you unpack all this stuff

and say, "Did you really want that?"

The goods are being reduced
for a reason.

You could end up buying something
and then never using it,

which is food waste.

So just don't be seduced
that it's cheaper.

Just think,
"What am I gonna do with it?"

and "When am I gonna cook with it?"

Because nobody wants to end up
with a limp lettuce.

They most certainly do not.

But for those willing
to live life on the edge

and take the yellow sticker gamble,
what do we need to know?

When are they a money-saving win,
and when they are a fetid food flop?

To help us find out,

we've set food content creator
Gavin Wren a challenge,

to buy and eat nothing but
yellow sticker food for five days.

Will he be able to spot the bargains
from the bin fodder?

I don't normally go shopping
just for yellow sticker foods.

I might buy some
if I'm out shopping

and I see some reduced items.

However, it's normally
a random selection,

so I might have to go to a few shops

to get everything I need
for five days.

Precisely when yellow stickers
are applied to products

varies from supermarket
to supermarket.

So Gavin plans to visit
all his local stores

to make sure
he gets a variety of bargains.

Kicking things off,
it's an early morning trip to Asda.

They put the bargains out
first thing in the morning,

so I'm really excited
to see what they've got.

But will these bargains
actually be any good?

OK, well, I've got loads of stuff.

There was a lot of ready meals,

so that will see me through,
I think.

I've got a load of dal,

which is something
that I would normally eat anyway,

so I'm really happy with that.

There's quite a lot
of carbohydrates.

So, these are, like, potato skins.

There was a few packs of those.

There was quite a lot of pasta bakes
and pasta ready meals, too.

Again, lots of carbohydrate.

An impressive start,

if you're a fan
of nearly-gone-off ready meals.

I think it's gonna be
a little bit harder than I thought,

simply because
there wasn't much variety.

But I'm still missing things
like fresh fruit and veg

and also breakfast foods as well.

So I'll see
if I can find some of those.

Next, Gavin visits Sainsbury's...

followed by Lidl...

and finally Tesco.

And after a diligent day
delving the discount shelves,

Gavin has amassed
quite the hodgepodge

of treats and titbits,

costing a grand total of £62.07p.

That's about £45 less

than he'd usually spend
on his weekly shop.

But working out how to store
and eat this motley mix

before it goes off is another story.

There are a couple of things
that I regret slightly

cos I'd got a sort of bargain panic
when everything was reduced

and I needed to make sure
I'd got enough food.

So I bought
these little salmon slices

that need to be eaten today.

I also bought this hummus,
which was a really good reduction.

However, it's got a use-by date
of today and I can't freeze it,

which means I've got to eat it
by the end of tonight.

I also bought this rice
that's got a use-by date of today,

but I can have that
with my Thai curry

if I cook that tonight.

Which means I also have to have
hummus with Thai curry and rice.

OK. Yeah,
the wheels are coming off already.

We'll be back later
to find out how Gavin gets on.

But not all food nearing
its expiry date ends up

in the tummies of savvy shoppers.

A lot, sadly,
goes straight in the bin,

which is causing concern for many.

Yeah, I do worry about wasting food
a little bit.

Oh, definitely. I definitely worry
about wasting food.

I think, sometimes, we buy things
thinking we'll use them in the week,

and then we don't.

It's so hard
if you're cooking to a recipe

and it wants a particular amount.

You buy a large amount and
then leave the rest in the fridge

and you don't always have the time
to use it.

And it seems our shoppers
have a right to be concerned.

The UK produces a massive amount
of food waste.

10.7 million tonnes of food waste.

And 60% of this is from us,
the consumer.

In other words, the amount
of food and drink we throw away

that could've been eaten

would fill 3,800 Olympic-sized
swimming pools

or 95 Royal Albert Halls.

95 Royal Albert Halls?

That is mad.

And not only is all that waste
harmful to the planet,

it can make a pretty big dent
on our pockets, too.

So, you know,
on top of the food waste,

there is also
a financial wastage, too,

and a sort of average family of four
are wasting around £1,000 a year.

Families like mine are literally
throwing money in the bin.

So, could changing
the way we think about food dates

help reduce this waste
and increase our bank balance?

I do think that a lot of people
are guilty of just taking

that best before label
as, like, gospel.

Some people won't touch their food

if it's a second past
its best before date.

The clock strikes midnight

and they think their food
has to go in the bin.

The amount of edible food
we throw away might be shocking,

but there is hope.

In Northamptonshire,

hidden away
on an unsuspecting industrial estate

is a supermarket with an innovative,
and for some, controversial plan

to fight the war on food waste.

This is Best Before It's Gone,

one of a number
of secret supermarkets in the UK

specialising in purchasing food from
major retailers and food producers

that's near to
or past its best before date,

then selling them on to shoppers in
the know at radically reduced rates.

Whilst it might not have
the glossy store layout

of your local Waitrose,
businesses like this

could hold the key
to our burgeoning waste nightmare.

It's pot luck what might be
in stock at any one time,

but the concept is attracting
new shoppers from far and wide.

It appeals to anybody
that wants to save money.

We have a vast array of customers,

right the way from mothers wishing
to save money on the weekly shop

for their children,

all the way through
to elderly people, pensioners, etc.

We also deliver to a guy locally

that has
a three-million-pound house.

Well, they do say,
"Look after the pennies

"and the pounds
will look after themselves."

It works by offering customers
the opportunity to order online

from a list of products currently
available in this warehouse.

They can then have their food
delivered to their homes

or opt to click and collect,
just like regular shopper Susan.

I shop here because it helps
spread my pension out.

I get to try exciting new things

I wouldn't necessarily buy
in a supermarket,

because I wouldn't
be able to afford them,

and it varies my menu.

Whilst buying near-to
or out-of-date food

might not be everyone's cup of tea,

those who don't mind
can find food on average 70% cheaper

than the recommended retail price
in mainstream supermarkets.

The biggest savings I make
is on chocolate, crisps,

soft drinks, pasta, noodles, sauces.

And it doesn't... It's all the stuff

that doesn't matter
if it's past the sell-by date.

Each week, around 100 tonnes of food

that would otherwise be destined
for landfill

is brought to the warehouse, ready
to be resold at reduced prices,

and today, a bumper load
has just been delivered.

So, we've just had
our lorry go out and collect

from a major retailer in the UK.

There's 14 pallets of stock here
coming in,

which will be sorted and available
for sale later on today.

Dan hopes he'll be able to sell it
all to his frugal fleet of shoppers,

but any that isn't bought in time
won't go to waste either,

as it's taken away
and turned into biomass fuel.

Well, I think more people
should use businesses like this

because it saves the environment.

It's kind to the planet, it saves
wastage, and it saves you money.

Why not?

Coming up... Dr Chris is back

with some top tips
to keep your fruit and veg fresh.

Strange but true,
if you keep your onions in tights,

you can help to keep them dry
and ventilated.

And Gavin pushes his yellow sticker
challenge to its limits.

Because this milk is now
five days past its best before date,

it's really important
I do a quick sniff test,

just to make sure
that it's not gone bad.

AMY DRAKE: Earlier,
we set food content writer Gavin

the challenge of juggling a diet
of just yellow sticker food,

nearing the end of its use-by
or best before date,

for a whole five days.

Gavin's allowed to use existing
herbs, spices and condiments

already in his cupboard
to add some flavour.

But buying anything new that
doesn't have a yellow sticker on

is strictly off limits.

It's the start of the week,
and already there's a dilemma.

It's day one, and I've already hit
a small problem.

You see, I bought this bread,
the best before date was yesterday,

and I want to eat this each day.

However, if I just keep this
in the cupboard at room temperature,

it could easily go mouldy
in the next few days.

So I thought, "I know what,
I'll put it in the freezer."

But my freezer is literally full
with ready meals.

I couldn't fit this in there
if I tried.

So I'm going to have to eat
some ready meals today

so I can put this in the freezer.

So I'm already having to juggle
things simply to make this work.

But by day three,
Gavin's a little more in his stride.

Every morning, I have to get
the things out of the freezer

that I want to eat that day
cos they need time to defrost.

So tonight, I'm gonna have
a slow-cooked beef

with some potato wedges,

and I've still got some fennel
and carrots in the fridge,

which I'm gonna then roast those,

and that's gonna make
a really lovely dinner.

But before that,
it's time for lunch.

I would say the main downside
of this diet overall

is just the lack of choice.

I don't have much control
over what food I actually buy.

Obviously, it was just down
to what was in the shop on the day.

So I'm having to be quite creative
with how I use things.

Like these asparagus
really needs to be used up today,

otherwise, they might have gone off.

So putting them on a pizza
isn't something I would normally do,

but I think
that's quite a good idea.

So as long as
you're a bit imaginative,

you can still work out
ways to use things

and make sure they don't go off.

Mmm!

We'll find out later
how Gavin gets on

with his haul
of ever-deteriorating discount food.

Whether you buy yellow sticker items
or not,

keeping fruit and veg fresh
until you're ready to eat it

can be a bit of a nightmare.

In fact, British households
cumulatively chuck

8.2 million shopping baskets' worth
of fruit and vegetables in the bin

every year
because it's deemed to have gone off

before there's time to use it.

So, is there anything
we can be doing

to keep our five a day fresher
for longer,

and avoid
this shocking amount of waste?

Well, thankfully, there is, and
we know just the man to fill us in.

It's Dr Chris, with some top tips
to keep your greens garden-fresh.

The frustrating thing
about fruit and veg

is that you only have
a relatively short window

in which to consume them before they
start to do something like this.

Which is often caused
by something called ethylene.

Not your nan's friend from bingo
but a gaseous hormone

which causes fruit and veg
to ripen faster.

Lots of fruits contain ethylene,
and its job, amongst other things,

is to control the aging process
of that fruit.

The problem is, some fruits produce
more ethylene than others.

Bananas in particular
produce a lot of ethylene,

which means they can make
other fruit ripen very quickly.

Often too quickly,
because once it's fully ripe,

it's only a matter of time
before it starts to decay.

So, what's the answer, Chris?

The key here is, take your bananas,
put them somewhere else.

A simple yet ingenious solution.

Time for tip two.

If you want to extend
the shelf life of celery,

then there's a simple trick.

Take your celery and wrap it
in some aluminium foil.

Now, unlike plastic,
this will help to keep out light

while helping to retain moisture
but also letting ripening gases

that are produced to escape and
stopping it going limp and floppy.

Saggy celery avoided,
it's time for tip three.

Don't you hate it
when your berries get all fuzzy?

Well, fortunately,
there is a solution.

In fact, it's a solution
of water and vinegar.

Three parts to one.

We mix them together.

And we make a nice acidic solution

that should kill off any microbes

or other organisms which might
cause spoilage on your berries.

The only thing is you shouldn't
leave them in there too long,

otherwise, they'll start
to taste a bit like a chip shop.

Mmm, saveloy and strawberries.
So, what's next?

Strange but true,
if you keep your onions in tights,

you can help to keep them dry
and ventilated.

That means as long as you put
a knot between each onion...

..it should help them
to last longer.

By putting them in tights,

it allows air to circulate
around the onions,

carrying moisture away
from the surface

that might otherwise allow
bacteria or fungi to develop.

And just when you thought there
wasn't any more room in your life

for more onion hacks,
here's Chris with another.

Don't store your onions
and your potatoes together,

otherwise, you'll end up
with something that looks like this.

That's because, just like bananas,

onions also release
high amounts of ethylene,

meaning other vegetables
they're stored near

will ripen and eventually go off
quicker than you'd like.

Keep your potatoes
in a cool, dark place,

and that way, they should last
a little bit longer.

And with your onions,
don't forget your tights.

Back in East London,

Gavin's yellow sticker challenge
is nearing its end.

For the last five days,
he's been living life on the edge

by solely eating food purchased
with a yellow sticker on it.

That's food
that's been reduced in price

because it's nearing its use-by
or best before date.

It's the morning of day five, which
means I've got my last breakfast.

Because this milk is now five days
past its best before date,

it's really important
I do a quick sniff test

just to make sure
that it's not gone bad.

I mean, it smells like milk.

I think that's good.
Let's go for it.

Awesome!

It's a win for the milk,

but with all of the processed
ready meals he's been eating,

it hasn't exactly been
the healthiest.

As for nutrition, I've been
tracking what I've been eating,

and things have changed quite a lot.

In fact, my fat intake has gone up.

I'm nearly... 40% of my diet now
is fat, which is quite high,

and my carbohydrate intake
has gone down.

Protein, I'm hitting it.

But despite the nutritional setback,

it seems there are
plenty of positives.

I'm making my last meal now.
I'm having some of this dal.

I bought three of these.
I've only eaten one of them.

I've got some of the sourdough
bread, froze it on day two,

still loads of that left.

I'm gonna have that with a bit
of my soft cheese as well.

And then I've got one apple left.
This is brilliant.

I've still got tons of food left
in the freezer, too.

I could probably carry on
for a few more days.

If I added a little bit more
fresh fruit and veg,

if I went down the shops

and got a few more bargains
that were things like, yeah,

vegetables, fruit, then I would
be happy to do a few more days,

I reckon,
which makes it really good value.

Gavin's yellow sticker shop
at the start of the week

had already saved him £45
compared to his normal weekly spend.

But with plenty of food
still left in the freezer,

he's even better off.

Oh!

With the challenge complete,
time for some final thoughts.

There wasn't much food waste either.
There are only two things. Two?

Two things that are going
in the bin, which is the hummus...

It's got a use-by date,
so I really couldn't safely eat that

after the day I bought it.

And I bought some bagged salad,

which I just simply never
got round to eating.

And it's gone a bit soggy now,

so I don't think
that's a good idea to eat that.

That's still quite a low level
of food waste, which is fantastic.

However, the amount
of packaging waste that I've had

has just shot up because
everything I've eaten has been,

like, a ready meal,
like this, in plastic packaging.

So my recycling bin is overflowing.

So, great for the pocket,
perhaps not so great for the planet.

But is eating like this sustainable
in the long-term?

You could probably do
an entire weekly shop

just from yellow stickers.

Although, there are a few things
that you might want every week,

like milk or eggs for instance,

that you can't rely
on them being reduced.

But if you've got a little bit
of flexibility in what you eat,

then, yeah,
you could definitely do this.

So Gavin's saved a packet
by chowing down

on food close to the best before
or use-by date.

But at the end of the day,
are these dates absolutely necessary

or a little bit of a con?

Dates on food are not a con.

They're information
for the consumer,

and a use-by date is essential.

They're protecting the consumer.

They're saying that
you could get food poisoning

if you eat this food
after midnight on the use-by date.

But what about best before dates?

Best before dates are not a con.

They do have a role to play,
but they're far too strict.

There are far too many products
that say

you should eat them within
a few weeks or a few months. No.

They're fine a year or two
after they've been made.

So, in summary, use-by dates,
you really shouldn't ignore.

But when it comes to all the rest,
trust your eyes, ears,

nose and fingers, as not
all mouldy food is made equal.

And if you're gonna live life
close to the use-by date,

bear in mind it's a full-time job.

And above all, don't waste food.

Right, I'm off to eat some crisps

that were made
three prime ministers ago.

Well, in that case, they should
still be fresh as a daisy.