An easy way to slash your food bill!

by Rachel Robson on 18 June 2010  |  4 comments
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Out of date food might cost less, but will it taste as good? We put it to the test!

Most of us know that food shopping can work out to be very expensive. And here at lovemoney.com, we’re always keen to find ways to save you money.

That’s why I’m becoming a big fan of the website Approved Food. This website sells short-dated and out-of-date food and drink, with over 1000 lines of products from around the world. And as a result, the prices are a lot lower than you’d find in the supermarket.

But before you turn your nose up at the thought of eating out-of-date food, it’s worth mentioning that goods sold on the website will only be past their ‘best before’ date and not their ‘use by’ date.

Selling products past their use by date comes with health risks. But best before dates only relate to the quality of a product and are still perfectly safe to eat. In fact, a best before date is really just a warning that the food might not be quite as tasty after that date as it was originally.

According to Love Food Hate Waste, 8.3 million tonnes of food is thrown away by UK households every year. What’s more, a lot of that food is still perfectly edible.

Wasting food costs the average family with children £680 a year and can have serious environmental implications too. So it’s time we did something about it!

The taste test

Having received a large package of food from Approved Food, I decided it was time to put it to the test and see whether anyone could tell if the out-of-date food tasted any differently from food still in date.

To keep things simple, we tasted:

• Soreen Malt Loaf
• Ryvita Fruit Crunch
• Monster Munch (roast beef flavour)
• Liquorice

Seven tasters were asked to say whether they thought each food tasted less fresh than they thought it should, whether they could tell it was past its best before date, whether the idea of eating food past its best before date put them off, and whether they’d be happy to buy the food knowing it would be cheaper.

So what did they think?

The results

Well, the majority of our tasters said that they didn’t feel the goods tasted any less fresh than they thought they should and almost everyone said they couldn’t tell that the food was out of date.

That said, one person did feel the liquorice tasted out of date and one taster thought that the Soreen malt loaf and the Ryvita also tasted a little less fresh. The malt loaf was also a little stickier than usual.

As for whether they felt comfortable eating out of date food, only two people said it put them off and they wouldn’t be happy to buy this food even though it was cheaper than in the supermarket. The remaining five tasters, however, were all happy to eat the food past its best before date and said they would be happy to buy it!

So overall, the results were pretty positive! It’s also worth pointing out that some of our tasters also tried out the Cous Cous and baguettes that also came in the package when they were at home and gave them the big thumbs up!

Saving money

To give you some idea of how prices can vary at Approved Food compared with the supermarket, the table below compares the prices of the items above with the recommended retail price (RRP):

So as you can see, the Approved Food basket of goods is £2.46 cheaper than the RRP! Not bad for four items – imagine how the savings would stack up if you did even more of your shopping at Approved Food!

If the idea of eating food outside its best before date really doesn’t appeal, it’s worth noting that there is an option on the website to only select products that are in date – just bear in mind, these may only be short dates. For example, we had some food that still had a few months to go – although all of the food in the taste test had past its best before date.

The website also tells you what the best before date is likely to be on the food – so you’ll be able to see this before you place your order.

Finally, it’s also worth noting that you can also pick up pet food and non-food products such as toiletries and cleaning products at lower prices!

So why not have a browse of Approved Food to see what you think? Personally, I think anything that saves money and helps the environment has to get the thumbs up!