Savvy shopper shares the ‘secret’ meanings behind supermarket codes that reveal the freshest foods
A TikTokker has revealed a little-known trick for deciphering supermarkets codes so you can find the freshest fruit and vegetables.
UK-based content creator Grace Forell shared the shopping tip in a video on the platform, where she is known as The Sustainable Spender.
As far back as 2018, some supermarkets in the UK started to ditch ‘best before’ labels on produce.
This is because research has shown that perfectly good food is often thrown away if it has passed the best buy date.
However, it is generally fine to eat things that are passed their best buy date, which is about quality and not freshness.
And so major retailers started to get rid of the dates in an effort to save food from being wasted.
However, according to Grace, there is still a way to check for the freshest fruit and veggies when shopping, as items with no best buy date will have a supermarket code on the label instead.
Her TikTok clip, which featured still images of the various pieces of produce in a slide show, showed where to find the codes, what they look like – and what they mean.
UK-based content creator Grace Forell (pictured) has revealed a little-known trick for deciphering supermarkets codes so you can find the freshest fruit and vegetables
Using photos with text superimposed on top, the content creator unveiled the secret meaning behind several supermarkets’ codes.
The first image of the slide show featured the content creator holding a basket of fruit and veggies.
Text superimposed over the picture said: ‘These ‘secret’ supermarket codes will change the way you shop.’
She added: ‘Supermarkets have gotten rid of many best before dates from their fruit & vegetables.’
However, the video noted, they do have internal codes which contain information about the date. An image of a cucumber from Tesco showed a code which said: ‘H09.’
According to Grace: ‘H stands for the month of August. (Because A is for January, B for February, etc).
‘The number is the date in this case the 9th of August,’ she explained.
Grace, who helps others shop sustainably, explained that ‘the later the date, the fresher the produce’.
According to Grace, different supermarkets use their own different codes to mark dates on their produce
Asda shoppers should note that the store uses the same system as Tesco when it comes to labelling the items.
When it comes to Sainsbury’s, all the codes are book ended with J and S, so shoppers should ignore those letters, and just look at the numbers in-between.
The video continued: ‘At Sainsbury’s, the date is written as DDMM. So these peppers [labelled J1008S) are the 10th of August.’
Meanwhile, Morrisons uses the real first letter of the month.
S A is for August, September would be S, October would be O and so on. Therefore, an A label on some clementines which reads ‘A9’ translates to August 9.
Grace concluded: ‘Save this for the next time you go shopping. And share to help your friends pick the choicest produce!
‘AND ONE LAST THING: Don’t throw away food just because it’s gone past one of these dates.’
She concluded: ‘These are about freshness and quality, NOT food safety (like use by dates).’
It comes after a woman uncovered a game-changing hack on Shein that could save shoppers weeks of waiting for their next summer order.
Natalie Southern, from the UK, took to TikTok to spill the tea on her latest discovery, and one said she ‘saved their life’.
The content creator revealed the little-known secret behind Shein’s quickship feature, calling it a ‘life hack for the girlies.’
Taking to her TikTok, Natalie claimed that she found the ‘Shein secret of the century’, in the now viral clip, which racked up over 197,000 views.
She said: ‘Please tell me I’m not the only one who had just released this on Shein – quickship, who knew that if you wanted your goods from Shein there was a section where you could order from quickship.’
Explaining the feature, she added: ‘Your goods come in a number of days rather than a number of weeks.’
Shocked by her discovery the content creator, who has over 3,000 followers, added: ‘I didn’t.’
According to Natalie, the trick lies in the search bar under the quickship option, which only shows items that are ready to ship from local warehouses.
The best part of the feature is that it ensures items are delivered to the customer’s door in as little as three to five working days.
Shoppers will find a variety of items available under quickship, including clearance deals, with clothes that have been reduced by up to 70 percent.
Hundreds of fellow Shein fans flooded the comment section and thanked Natalie for the tip, with some admitting they’d been put off by long delivery times in the past.
One person said: ‘I didn’t know this!’ To which Natalie replied: ‘Me either Stephanie!’
Another added: ‘You have saved my life.’ Someone else said: ‘Literally about to make an order! Thank you. I had no clue this was a thing.’
A fourth added: ‘I wasn’t aware of this feature. However, once you press complete it gives you an option ‘quick ship/ urgent ship’.’
Someone else claimed: ‘It’s when someone in the country has ordered it and returned it. Instead of sending [it] back to China or wherever, they keep it in the UK for someone else.’
