Sainsbury’s launch colour changing LABEL on ham packets to reveal when meat is OFF

Ham is the top-selling cooked meat product for the chain, but buyers find it difficult to keep track of how long it has been open.

This leads to perfectly edible ham being thrown away – figures from the government’s waste advisory body Wrap reveal that British households throw away 1.9 million slices of ham a day – equivalent to 32,500kg – at a cost of more than £170m a year.

The smart label on Sainsbury’s ham changes colour from yellow to purple the longer the packet has been open.

The new label is temperature sensitive to allow for the fact that an open pack of ham has its longest fridge life when kept below 5C.

Colour change will be slower in cooler fridges. Sainsbury’s hopes the new labelling will help to reduce the amount of ham being binned.

Jane Skelton, head of packaging at Sainsbury’s, said: “We’ve all been there; when we’ve found a pack of ham loitering on the bottom shelf of the fridge and can’t remember how long it’s been opened for.

“We wanted to find a way to reduce waste of this family favourite while helping customers save money.”

The introduction of the new packaging is part of the supermarket’s £10m “waste less, save more” drive, which is a five-year investment which aims to help Britons cut the amount of food they throw away.

The new ham label is being used on Sainsbury’s own-brand seven-slice packs of cooked ham in all 601 stores.

If consumers respond well it could then be extended to other foods.

Sainsbury’s is one of the most popular supermarkets in the UK, and often offer deals to tempt new shoppers in.

One recent offer saw the chain offer £20 off a £60 shop.

You can get the whopping 20 per cent off your food shop at Sainsbury’s simply by entering a secret code at the checkout.

All you have to do is paste SCSSEOJUN at the checkout before you pay.

Savvy shoppers can take advantage of the saving, but there is a small catch.

There are also some exclusions to the offer.