When we're grocery shopping, most of us don't seek out foods that have passed their "Best Before" dates. But a chain of grocery stores in England is asking consumers to do just that.In an effort to reduce food waste, the East of England Co-op says that it is now selling items that are up to a month past their "Best By" dates in its 125 outlets, with prices reduced to just 10 pence (about 13 cents).To sell consumers on the initiative, the co-op has launched a marketing campaign with slogans such as "Don't be a binner, have it for dinner!" and "It's not nice to get dumped." The company, which bills itself as the "biggest independent retailer in East Anglia," said that in a trial at 14 of its stores, shoppers bought the items just hours after the prices were slashed."The vast majority of our customers understand they are fine to eat and appreciate the opportunity to make a significant saving on some of their favourite products," Roger Grosvenor, joint chief executive at the East of England Co-op, said in a statement. "This is not a money making exercise, but a sensible move to reduce food waste and keep edible food in the food chain. By selling perfectly edible food we can save 50,000 items every year which would otherwise have gone to waste."The Food Standards Agency says the U.K. throws away nearly 8 million tons of food and drink each year, with its manufacturing and retail sector wasting an additional 2 million tons. The co-op anticipates that its new program will save more than two tons of food waste annually.The move joins other global efforts to reduce food waste as a result of labels that give consumers the impression that foods shouldn't be eaten after their "best by" or "sell by" dates.Foods don't "expire," as NPR's Dan Charles has explained: