Morrisons hopes the move will stop millions of pints of milk being thrown away every year
Supermarket chain Morrisons has announced it will be scrapping ‘use by’ dates on its own-brand milk, in order to reduce waste.
From the end of January, the retailer will instead use “best before” dates on 90% of its own range and encourage customers to use a sniff test to check quality.
Morrisons believes the move could save seven million pints of milk being poured away each year.
There are environmental benefits to the move as well, with milk production having a high carbon footprint because of the large resources needed to feed cows.
Morrisons says that their research has shown that milk does not need to be labelled as a perishable food
Ian Goode, senior milk buyer at Morrisons, said: “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.”
Milk will have a sour taste or a curdled consistency if it has gone off.
Recycling charity Wrap estimates that around 490 million pints of milk go to waste every year, with 85 million pints going down the sink because of customers following ‘use by’ dates.
This makes milk the third most wasted food product in the UK, after potatoes and bread.
Our CEO @MarcusGover welcomes the news that #Courtauld2030 signatory @Morrisons @MorrisonsNews is moving from #UseBy to #BestBefore date labels on #milk. Find out more about our labelling guidance, developed with @foodgov @DefraGovUK https://t.co/CQpC7kuNQz #SDG123 #Courtauld2030 pic.twitter.com/2hIAWBmWcf
— WRAP (@WRAP_NGO) January 10, 2022
Marcus Gover, of Wrap, said: “I am delighted that Morrisons is the first UK supermarket to take this important step to help reduce household food waste – it shows real leadership and we look forward to more retailers reviewing date labels on their products and taking action.”
Related links:
- Morrisons apologise for selling ‘British Chicken’ with ‘Non-EU salt’
- One in three Brits now drink plant-based milk
