Hamming it up? Supermarket label changes colour to help cure food waste
by Rebecca Smithers Consumer affairs correspondent from on (#2VJKR)
Sainsbury's launches packaging that shows how long its own-brand ham has been open to stop slices being thrown away
A major UK supermarket is launching a new "smart" label on packets of its own-brand ham in a bid to reduce waste by telling consumers how fresh it is.
Ham is Sainsbury's top-selling cooked meat product, but many buyers find it difficult to remember how long it has been open. Figures from Wrap, the government's waste advisory body, reveal that British households throw away 1.9 million slices of ham a day - equivalent to 32,500kg - at a cost of more than 170m a year.