Sainsbury’s swaps to best-before dates on milk to slash UK food waste

11 Sep 2023 --- Sainsbury’s is replacing use-by dates with best-before dates across its own-brand milk range to reduce food waste. The new labeling will roll out in the new year, and the change will be complete by the end of February 2024. 

Research from UK-based charity The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has shown that milk is the third most wasted food in the UK, with over 490 million pints thrown away each year, often because the milk has passed its use-by date. 

Sainsbury’s is the “biggest” UK retailer to make this change. 

Catherine David, director of Behaviour Change & Business Programmes at WRAP, says: “This change will help reduce food waste in our homes. Wasting food feeds climate change and costs money – with the average family spending over £730 [US$914] annually on good food, which ends up in the bin.” 

“Our research shows applying the appropriate date label to products can help reduce the amount of good food thrown away,” asserts David.

By switching to best-before dates, Sainsbury’s says it is empowering customers to make their own decisions on whether food is good to eat.Food safety and quality
The move will affect 44 products in total, including all fresh and organic milk sold across England, Scotland and Wales, and will apply to over 730 million pints of milk sold by Sainsbury’s annually.

According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), use-by dates are linked to food safety, whereas best-before dates relate to food quality. Food with a use-by date applied should never be consumed past this date (unless frozen on or before that date), whereas foods with a best-before date can be eaten beyond that date, asserts the agency.

Sainsbury’s says it will encourage shoppers to follow the FSA’s guidance, which recommends using sensory cues to see if milk with a best-before-date label has gone bad, for example, by sniffing the product.

Making the most of it
Ruth Cranston, director of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Sainsbury’s, says that around a third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. “Combating food waste is one of our top priorities and we are continuously innovating to tackle this issue, from farms and suppliers right to our customers’ homes.” 

“By switching to best-before dates on our milk, we are empowering customers to make their own decisions on whether their food is good to eat, helping to prevent them from disposing of food too early.”

David adds that applying a “best before” date to milk rather than a “use by” date means that people can use their judgment to eat beyond that date, “allowing longer to use what they buy. Check out the Love Food Hate Waste for tips on how to maximize the life span of food – for example ensuring the fridge is below five degrees Celsius, to keep food fresher for longer,” she explains.

In a similar move, UK supermarket Asda removed the “best before” dates on almost 250 of its packaged fresh fruit and vegetable products across stores from today, helping customers reduce food waste and save money.

Edited by Natalie Schwertheim