M&S stops expiration dates on milk – in favor of the sniff test! Chain’s hope will prevent millions of safe pints from being unnecessarily thrown away
M&S has removed the expiration date from its milk and is now encouraging customers to use a sniff test to assess whether the milk is past its expiration date.
The move is an effort to curb food waste, with the retailer warning that around 490 million pints, worth ?270 million, are poured down the drain in the UK every year.
That amounts to 18.5 liters per household, usually because the use-by date has passed.
Milk sold in all M&S stores in the UK will instead be adorned with ‘best before’ dates from this week, telling Britons to use their judgment before throwing out milk that might be fine to drink. to consume.
While the best before date applies to food safety – meaning consuming it at a later date can cause illness – the best before date is about quality. Food consumed after this date may not be at its best, but will not make the consumer unwell.
M&S has removed the expiration date from its milk and is now encouraging customers to use a sniff test to assess whether the milk is past its expiration date
Milk is the third most wasted food in the home, after potatoes and bread.
The retailer said the decision is in line with its commitment to halve food waste by 2030 and reach net zero by 2040.
Catherine David, director of collaboration and change at sustainability charity, WRAP said: ‘By turning its British and organic fresh milk into a best before date, M&S is helping its customers save money and reduce waste immediately by giving them more time to use the milk. to consume. they buy.
‘WRAP’s joint Best Practice with the Food Standards Agency, Defra and Dairy UK states that a use-by date should only be applied when required for food safety reasons, and it’s fantastic to see M&S – a signatory of Courtauld 2030 – making this move.
‘This kind of labeling change is fundamental to helping people reduce household food waste, which currently exceeds 6.6 million tonnes a year in the UK.’