Food will soon be sold past its best-before date across Co-op stores in the East of England.

The grocer says the move aims to significantly reduce food waste by selling tinned, packaged and dried products for only 10p, for a month after their labelled best-before dates.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises food past this date is safe to consume but may not be at the optimum quality intended by the producer.

It is estimated every year, up to half of all food produced globally for human consumption is wasted.

East of England Co-op hopes the initiative to reduce these volumes by at least two metric tonnes annually.

Joint Chief Executive, Roger Grosvenor, said: “This is not a money-making exercise but a sensible move to reduce food waste and keep edible food in the food chain.

“By selling perfectly edible food we can save 50,000 plus items every year which would otherwise have gone to waste.”