Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether regarding the reduction of food waste, (a) her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of current requirements for the legibility of use by and best before dates on food packaging, and (b) her Department has plans to review minimum font size or contrast standards.

Defra funds the UK Food and Drink Pact, an industry agreement to tackle food waste. Through the Pact, we support food businesses to ensure their packaging design and labelling information encourages consumers to waste less food.

UK food labelling rules require that mandatory information, including use by and best before dates must be easily visible, clearly legible and, where appropriate, indelible. Mandatory information must also be printed using a font with a minimum x-height of 1.2mm, or where applicable, a minimum x-height of 0.9mm. There are no current plans to review requirements for minimum font size or contrast standards.