Avoid food waste in the household – Kassenrutsch Espresso

The aim of the Offa spring fair in St. Gallen is to raise public awareness of food waste. This is how the audience reacts.

At the Offa spring fair in St. Gallen, the audience should be made aware of the issue of food waste. The goal: consumers should rely more on their senses.

Food waste is a huge issue in Switzerland and leads to a major loss of resources. According to the Federal Office for the Environment, «Around a third of all edible parts of food are lost between the field and the plate». The majority of this (38 percent) ends up in household waste. The city of St. Gallen and the Foodwaste.ch association, which campaigns against food waste, want to raise public awareness at this year’s Offa spring exhibition. The most important message: We should rely more on our senses again instead of on the expiration date.

Experience shows that the proportion of food waste has not decreased noticeably for years. One of the main reasons is probably that many consumers focus too much on this Best before or use by date focus. If this limit is exceeded, the food ends up in the trash. That doesn’t have to be the case, because many of these foods would be good long beyond these dates.

The young and old visitors are very interested. But it quickly becomes clear: many people blindly rely on the date printed on them.

A woman is visibly shocked when she reads that she could easily eat yogurt two weeks after the best-before date has passed. «I never do that. “I always look at the expiry date,” says the woman. “I’m a bit picky because I don’t want to pick anything up.” This also leads to discussions at home, says her husband, who is not so sensitive about this matter. “I then eat the yogurt while my wife would throw it away.”

Legend:

At the end of the course, visitors have to put their saved food on a board in the right place. Crispbread, for example, can be eaten up to 120 days past the date, pasta even up to a year or even longer.

Sabrina Lehmann / SRF

At the very end there is a tasting. The operators of the stand at Offa offer visitors two chocolate biscuits – one that has already expired and one that is fresh from the store shelf. The consumers should test their senses: which of the two cookies is the freshest?

Legend:

A direct comparison clearly shows that the eye also eats. The fresh cookies don’t look perfect – the chocolate is slightly tarnished, while the “expired” cookies look perfect due to different packaging.

Sabrina Lehmann / SRF

But the picture is deceptive and many of the visitors are actually deceived by it. But during the tasting it becomes clear to everyone: Both biscuits are actually still good.

Legend:

The visitors enjoy listening to the explanations. Many people were not aware that biscuits – depending on the type – are still good for 30 days longer.

Sabrina Lehmann / SRF

Erika Bauert is a project manager at the Foodwaste.ch association and she regularly observes that many consumers do not even dare to try an “expired” product and test whether it is still good.

In the interview, the expert says that around 20 percent of all food waste that occurs in the household is still safe.

Legend:

According to Erika Bauert, one of the problems is that there is a lack of awareness of the problem. “It’s always small amounts that you throw away.” But that makes a big difference. This means that food worth 400 francs per household per year ends up in the waste.

Sabrina Lehmann / SRF

At the stand at the Offa spring fair in St. Gallen, Erika Bauert observed that younger consumers in particular react very sensitively to the best-before or use-by date. “Older consumers know much more about the shelf life of food,” says the expert. This knowledge used to be much more anchored in consciousness. And Erika Bauert says there needs to be more appreciation for food again. These are often so cheap that people would rather buy something new instead of trying it out first.

Legend:

These foods could be symbolically saved. Now it’s time for the audience to find out how long yoghurt, minced meat, biscuits or milk drinks can still be consumed safely. There is also a course with information about the food.

Sabrina Lehmann / SRF