MPs accuse supermarkets of "morally repugnant" food waste

But the British Retail Consortium, the industry body that represents the supermarket chains, said the Lords committee should focus on “evidence-based policy, rather than being distracted by perception”.

A spokesman said: “The report is useful in highlighting the need for everyone, including retailers, government and consumers, to make cutting food waste a priority. However, it appears to have not appreciated what is already happening.

“For example, the Government’s own research body, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), found that retailers no longer use bogofs [buy one, get one free promotions], since price cuts are the norm. They also concluded that there is no evidence that promotions increase food waste.”

The BRC added that all the major retailers are working towards meeting the “challenging” target set by the Government, which aims to halve the UK’s food waste by 2025.

The news comes as some of the UK’s biggest food retailers, Asda, Morrisons and Selfridges, back an offensive by Philip Davies MP, the vice-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Retail Group, to relax Sunday trading hours.

Under the Sunday Trading Act 1994, shops of over 300,000 sq ft can only open for a maximum of six hours on Sunday, and not before 10am.

But Mr Davies said the rise of internet shopping has made the regulation a “ridiculous anomaly”.

He will this week table a series of amendments to the Deregulation Bill currently going through Parliament. The proposals are expected to include an option to abolish Sunday trading restrictions altogether.

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