‘I’m struggling for food, and they’re doing this,’ reads one furious comment on Instagram.
These words were shared in response to a video uploaded on January 18, revealing shocking food waste in bins behind a Waitrose supermarket in the UK.
The clip was posted by an anonymous vigilante from West London, known as @food_waste_inspector, who has amassed a huge following online for his content documenting food waste across the country.
Last week, the social media creator’s jaw-dropping post targeting M&S went viral, showing eight bins outside one of the retailer’s stores supposedly filled with unopened and in-date food.
This prompted the high street favourite to launch an investigation, and it seems Waitrose is now following suit after it became the most recent focus of the account’s attention.
Two videos have been shared by The Food Waste Inspector in the last week, seemingly showing massive amounts of waste in bins outside Waitrose stores, after hours.
In the first, posted on January 18, numerous packets of ham, most of which were in date, were found in large wheelie bins outside the Waitrose in Chobham, Surrey, as well as pre-prepared items like Charlie Bigham ready meals, Higgidy quiches and fish cakes.
The second video, posted later the same day, sees tins of Heinz and Branston baked beans that are in date until 2027 chucked in bins outside a store in Harrow, alongside tubs of cottage cheese, cranberry juice cartons, potatoes, yoghurts, punnets of grapes and fresh pasta.
Waitrose tells Metro that the fresh meat products shown in the first video were in the bin as they were ‘no longer safe for human consumption’. They claim this is because the cold storage chain had been broken, and they were awaiting collection for anaerobic digestion.
However, the contents of the bins in the second video are currently being investigated.
In the UK, approximately 9.52 million tonnes of food are wasted every year, which is enough to feed upwards of 30 million people.
The idea of food waste at Waitrose struck a real chord with social media users, given that the retailer is regularly crowned the most expensive supermarket in the UK.
Some of the ham seen in the bin costs almost £4 per pack, with Waitrose British Wiltshire Cured Oak Smoked Ham priced at £3.75 for 130g, while the Charlie Bigham Chicken & Mushroom Risotto meal costs £9.95.
Hey, foodies! Add us as a Preferred Source
At Metro Food, we’re here to bring you all the latest foodie news, delicious recipes, restaurant reviews, and cooking tips. As a loyal reader and a part of our vibrant community, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for stories
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
Heinz Baked Beans are £1.40 for a 415g tin at Waitrose, while Branston costs £1 each. A carton of Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Drink is £2.60, and Waitrose Fresh pasta is £2.60 a bag.
With roughly 8.4 million people living in food poverty nationwide, the items seen in the video could likely have made a real difference elsewhere.
Unsurprisingly, shoppers aren’t impressed with @me_and_my_headphones_ commenting on the baked bean video: ‘Oh my god, this is unbelievable. As you scanned to the yoghurts, I just swore out loud. This can’t keep happening, surely.’
Similarly, @rosemarykeatingdesign said: ‘It makes no sense… all that waste.’
While @djpaul67uk proclaimed: ‘I’m struggling for food, and they’re doing this… why can’t they make food parcels up for the homeless?’
‘That stuff is all so expensive too,’ fumed @herbsmum.
The video of ham also provoked outrage, with many furious that animals had died and the meat was going in the bin.
‘Countless animals murdered only for their butchered bodies to be thrown in the bin,’ posted @stee_vedge, and @mama.pross admitted: ‘I can not tell you the frustration this brings me, it’s awful.’
Others thought it was ‘shameful’, ‘so bad’, ‘horrendous waste’ and ‘horrific’.
Waitrose claims on its website that tackling food waste is ‘one of its priorities’.
The retailer proudly states that it works with FareShare to ensure leftover food from shops is given to local charities or offered to its partners, and it’s committed to halving food waste in its supply chains by 2030.
A spokesperson for Waitrose told Metro: ‘We have established that the fresh produce shown in one of the two films was not fit for human consumption as it was out of the chiller for too long and therefore was to be collected to be converted into either animal feed or energy for use in the agriculture sector using anaerobic digestion.
‘We continue to investigate the other film and would welcome the chance to meet The Food Waste Inspector to discuss his findings.’
Metro contacted The Food Waste Inspector, and he says he hasn’t been approached by Waitrose yet, but would be happy to discuss his findings with them if they were to reach out.
Pricey stores like Waitrose and M&S aren’t the only places he targets. He also recently filmed outside Lidl, showing supposed waste from the bargain retailer.
Everything he’s seen so far has prompted him to launch a petition calling on the government to ‘change the law on supermarkets wasting perfectly edible food’.
He states: ‘I propose enacting legislation that mandates supermarkets to redirect edible surplus to food banks and charities. Similar laws in France and Italy have proven successful, ensuring that supermarkets donate unsold food instead of disposing of it.’
More than 8,800 people have signed the petition so far.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
