King's Lynn Foodbank shares reminder over out-of-date food after items from 1990s donated
It was the year the UK won the Eurovision Song Contest with Katrina and the Waves, Tony Blair became Prime Minister, and Princess Diana tragically died a in Paris car crash.
But incredibly, 1997 was also the year in which an item recently donated to the King’s Lynn Foodbank passed its expiry date.
At a time when they are running short of supplies, Foodbank officials have been reminding people that they cannot distribute out-of-date food.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, they shared photos of a garden vegetable party dip which expired in 1997 and a chocolate dessert sauce with a logo which was discontinued in 1995, making it at least 24-years-old.
The post said the products were two of their “most out-of-date” items, and added that anything over three months out-of-date has to be disposed of.
Maarten Klem, King’s Lynn Foodbank manager and coordinator, said: “The reality is that some food doesn’t take long to go off.
“Obviously we don’t get things like we had in the post very often, which is why when we do find them, we put it on Facebook, as it’s fun, interesting and it gets a bit of attention.”
“We get people have passed on and their cupboards need clearing out – it’s just one of those things,” he added.
“We are just trying to make a point of making people aware. Nobody had seen those products in years, so it creates interest.”
Officials are always grateful for the generosity of those who donate, though.
Mr Klem said: “We love the King’s Lynn community, they are so generous.
“Last Christmas we collected just over nine tonnes of food, just in the month of December. That’s our biggest month for collecting food.
“We have a period of time from October to January when we collect more than we give out.”
They are now “starting to run short” of donations for food parcels, though.
The foodbank is currently low on items such as squash or long-life juice, tinned rice pudding and sponge pudding, UHT or long-life milk and tinned meat.
Mr Klem said the number of those who need to use the foodbank’s service has been growing year-on-year.
“The demand unfortunately isn’t going away,” he added.
The introduction of Universal Credit has “pushed the foodbank to the limit”, he said, but there are other reasons for the growing demand too.
“We have a large homeless population in King’s Lynn which is a big contributing factor, and we also see people who are working but they can’t afford to buy food,” he added.
“It’s either because they can’t find permanent work so are working part-time, or because they only earn so much because they are on a benefit and they are trying to work as well.”
King’s Lynn Foodbank, which is based in the TS Vancouver Building on St Margaret’s Lane, is open Monday to Friday from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.
There are various donation points throughout the town, including at supermarkets and a gym, where items can be dropped off.
Visit the website for more details at kingslynn.foodbank.org.uk.