A prominent retailer in the U.K. is removing "use-by" dates from its milk in an effort to curb excessive waste of milk that is still safe to drink.
Marks & Spencer, a major London-based multinational retailer, replaced "use-by" dates on milk with "best-before" dates starting this week, according to the BBC.
Catherine Davidof, who works for the sustainability charity Wrap, said the use-by dates on milk cartons are primarily responsible for the excessive milk waste, according to The Guardian.
"The main reason is not drinking before the use-by date," she said of why so much milk is wasted in the country. "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."
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The typical U.K. household gets rid of 18 pints of milk per year simply because of the use-by date, which equates to approximately 490 million wasted pints, or roughly £270 million ($340 million), according to Wrap.
The charity noted that milk joins bread and potatoes as among the food products most commonly discarded by U.K. households unnecessarily. The average U.K. home reportedly wastes about £60 ($75 million) per year throwing food away that could still be consumed.
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Use-by dates on food in the U.K. are applied for safety reasons to indicate quality and prevent food poisoning, but food is often still safe to consume after that date, The Guardian noted.
Experts claim throwing away such things wastes money and that approximately a third of the U.K.’s greenhouse gas emissions come from trash associated with food and drink, according to the outlet.
M&S noted improved shelf life and milk quality allows consumers the opportunity to use "their judgment on what's still good to eat" without being overly reliant on labels, the BBC reported.
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M&S follows other retailers such as Morrisons, which changed labeling on the milk it sells. Dairy retailer Arla did the same in 2019.
