Deal or No Deal winner creates food-waste label

The Count On It labels, which can be applied to opened containers of perishable food, use a scratch-off month and date to allow consumers to keep track of how long packaging has been open for.

Designer Lyndsey Young came up with the idea when preparing food for her two young sons.

“I would open a jar of pesto and use a couple of spoonfuls. Then I would go back to the fridge a few days later and have no way of remembering exactly when I opened it. My children were very young and so they were vulnerable, so I would end up throwing the jar away just to be sure,” said Young.

Count On It Labels were launched into Lakeland stores at the start of the year and are also sold through home products retailer Betterware.

However, Young is hoping that a government review of best-before dates and campaigns such as Wrap’s ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ could spark interest from retailers and manufacturers.

“We’re looking for a major grocer to come on board and stock the labels, and also for food and packaging producers to look at including the labels on the packaging,” added Young.

The labels have been designed to fit on the lid of a jar so that information on the body of the product is unobstructed.  

Young won £15,500 on the first series of Deal or No Deal in 2005. She used the money to enable her to pursue commercialisation of the patent-pending labels.

Business Link, the government support service, has been providing Young with advice to help her turn her venture into a success.

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