Shop staff in East Yorkshire have been criticised for pouring bleach on waste food to stop homeless people eating it.

Frozen food chain Iceland said staff at its Bridlington branch had occasionally "intimated" that the waste was treated, but this was against company policy.

It added that it did not offer expired food to charity because it could not be guaranteed as safe for consumption.

Former Mayor of Bridlington Liam Dealtry pledged to set up a system to give surplus food to those in need.

Mr Dealtry spoke after spending a night sleeping rough to raise money for homelessness charity, the Kingfisher Trust.

In order to deter people from taking waste from our bins, the staff have on occasion intimated that our waste is treated
Pauline BegleyIceland spokesperson

He said he was "shocked" to be told by rough sleepers that some local shops had started pouring bleach over food.

Mr Dealtry said he would write to local shops and hotels to encourage them to donate food. He also called for the council to act.

"A taskforce should be set up to help homeless people in the area. We must start looking after these people," he said.

Iceland spokesperson, Pauline Begley said: "It is not Iceland policy to tamper with our waste products in any way.

"Having spoken to the store manager at Bridlington, he did confirm that in order to deter people from taking waste from our bins, the staff have on occasion intimated that our waste is treated."

'Completely unacceptable'

Richard Dodd of the British Retail Consortium said that there were strict regulations on disposal of food waste but that retailers could distribute some food.

He said: "This is usually food which has been discontinued, overrun or which has a reasonably long shelf life.

"We must make sure that anything which is given away is safe."

He said that a number of retailers worked with Fare Share, a charity which targets food waste.

The charity distributed 3,100 tonnes of food last year and reaches 29,000 people every day.

Fare Share Director of Communications David Meller said: "If the food is fit for consumption get it to us and we'll distribute it.

"If it's not, there are far more responsible ways of disposing of food than putting bleach on it. That is a completely unacceptable practice."

It added that it did not offer expired food to charity because it could not be guaranteed as safe for consumption.

Do homeless people quibble over the best before date?

Food waste or food loss is food material that is discarded or unable to be used. Various political organisations and entities have their own definition of what constitutes food waste. The causes of wasted food are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, and retailing.

As of 2011, 1.3 billion tons of food, about one third of the global food production, are lost or wasted annually.[1] Loss and wastage occurs on all steps in the food supply chain. In low-income countries, most loss occurs during production, while in developed countries much food – about 100 kilograms (220 lb) per person and year – is wasted at the consumption stage

It is a fucking disgrace and those behind it should hang their heads in shame.


As should anyone who buys veg from a supermarket, especially organic. You folks would not believe the amount of good food that never even gets near a store because of an odd shape or split. Get down tesco now and demand they supply odd shaped veg!

Food wasted per year....en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_waste

Food waste or food loss is food material that is discarded or unable to be used. Various political organisations and entities have their own definition of what constitutes food waste. The causes of wasted food are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, and retailing.

As of 2011, 1.3 billion tons of food, about one third of the global food production, are lost or wasted annually.[1] Loss and wastage occurs on all steps in the food supply chain. In low-income countries, most loss occurs during production, while in developed countries much food – about 100 kilograms (220 lb) per person and year – is wasted at the consumption stage