The drive towards wasting less food has never been greater - both from an environmental point of view and a cost-of-living one. Co-op is the latest retailer to make a change, announcing yesterday that its own brand yogurts would no longer feature 'use by' dates.
Earlier this year Morrisons made the same change to its milk, replacing use by dates with best before dates. Both have been welcomed by WRAP, a charity that looks at the entire life cycle of products and services and helps organisations to use resources more sustainably.
Two years ago, WRAP launched new guidance to urge more businesses, redistribution organisations and charities to look beyond the best-before date. It has also said that some products that traditionally had a use-by date could instead carry a best-before date.
That has started to happen. Morrisons scrapped use by dates across some of its own-brand yogurt and hard cheese ranges in 2020.
And in January this year it said it would scrap use by dates on 90 per cent of its own brand milk. It encouraged customers to use the 'sniff test' to tell when their milk was no longer usable.
Unlike some other fresh products, drinking milk after a best before date is not a food safety issue. Milk is the third most wasted food and drink product in the UK, after potatoes and bread, with around 490 million pints wasted every year.
Milk also has the largest carbon footprint of these food and drink products because its production is so resource-intensive. One litre of milk can account for up to 4.5kg of CO2.
Research shows fresh milk can often last a number of days past the ‘use by date shown on the bottle. WRAP estimates that 85 million pints of milk waste may be a result of customers sticking to use by labels or ‘once opened use within’ guidance - when products may still be good to consume.
Ian Goode, Senior Milk Buyer at Morrisons, said in January: “Wasted milk means wasted effort by our farmers and unnecessary carbon being released into the atmosphere. Good quality well-kept milk has a good few days life after normal ‘Use By’ dates - and we think it should be consumed not tipped down the sink. So we’re taking a bold step today and asking customers to decide whether their milk is still good to drink. Generations before us have always used the sniff test - and I believe we can too.”
Marcus Gover, CEO at WRAP, said: “WRAP’s joint Best Practice with FSA and Defra is to only apply a ‘Use By’ date when required for food safety reasons. Applying a Best Before date to indicate quality on all other products means people have longer to use their food."
Speaking yesterday, Nick Cornwell, of the Co-op, said: “Yogurt can be safe to eat if stored unopened in a fridge after the date mark shown, so we have made the move to best-before dates to help reduce food waste. The acidity of yogurt acts as a natural defence and we’d encourage shoppers to use their judgment on the quality of their yogurt if it is past the best-before date. Data from Wrap has suggested that 70 per cent of food waste happens within the home setting."
When other supermarkets will start making similar moves is anybody's guess. Meanwhile, it has been rumoured that popular snacks including crisps could be next to lose their 'use before' dates. Food Standard Agency guidance says while crisps and other products might not be of the best quality if they are consumed over this time, they are still safe.
Shops are also legally allowed to sell items that have passed their best before date.
