A House of Lords committee has called on retailers to take greater responsibility for food waste by ditching promotions such as ‘buy one get one free’ (BOGOF) and ‘three for two’.

In its report, the EU Committee said more than 90 million tonnes of food were wasted annually and blamed multi-purchase offers for encouraging excess consumption, leading to waste.

Fruit and veg and other fresh foods are the areas most at risk of going to waste, but independent retailers sai this week that it was more likely to affect supermarkets if this idea picks up momentum in Government.

Graham Hales of Locks Newsagency in Portsmouth said: “We don’t have that many deals like BOGOF. If we do, they will be on drinks, and in the summer these don’t go to waste. The problem is with goods that have a short shelf life. People don’t look at the date on goods and they should.”

Bob Sykes of Denmore Stores in Rhyl agreed: “People here tend to prefer lower prices than three for two, two for one and so on. At the supermarkets, where people do go for these deals, too many short-dated items go to waste.”