UK – British multinational retailer, Marks & Spencer (M&S) has become the latest big retail name to remove use-by dates from its fresh milk to prevent millions of pints that are still safe to consume from being poured away.
In doing so, M&S becomes the first retailer to offer ‘Best Before’ labeling on fully recyclable milk bottles, following the removal of colored plastic caps on milk earlier this year.
With milk ranking as the third most wasted food in UK homes after potatoes and bread, M&S will encourage customers to use the old-fashioned sniff test to judge whether their dairy is still drinkable.
The change is expected to help its customers minimize waste without any impact on the product quality, sourcing standards or trusted value offer.
M&S Corporate Affairs director Victoria McKenzie-Gould said: “Since we launched Plan A in 2007, we’ve been acting on our roadmap to net zero and on the issues that matter most to our customers.
“It’s never a job done but over the past year, our colleagues have done a fantastic job – from being first to market higher welfare chicken to removing 75m units of plastic packaging.
“We know tackling food waste is a priority for our customers and we’re confident that these small changes to the packaging of our RSPCA Assured fresh milk, will make a big difference – as seen when we led the way in the removal of best before dates on our fruit and vegetables.”
A typical household throws away 18 pints of milk a year, usually because the date has expired. This results in waste on an industrial scale, with 490m pints, worth £270m, being poured away, says Catherine David of the sustainability charity Wrap.
“The main reason is not drinking before the use-by date,” said David of why so much milk is wasted.
“By changing to a best-before date, M&S is instantly helping its customers save money and cut waste by giving them more time to consume the milk they buy.”
While use-by dates are about safety, and applied to foods that go off quickly and could cause food poisoning, best-before is an indicator of quality. Food is still safe to eat after this date but the flavor and texture may not be as good.
Use-by dates are often found on products, such as milk and yoghurt, where a best-before one might do, a practice blamed for contributing to food waste.
Things are starting to change, however. Last year Morrisons switched to best-before dates on its milk while the Co-op removed use-by dates from its own brand.
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