British supermarket chain Aldi has announced its plans to change the labelling of its fresh milk product line, in a bid to minimise food waste.
The retailer said it will now replace the ‘Use By’ labels with ‘Best Before’ dates on its milk bottles, excluding the filtered milk range.
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This change will gradually be implemented across all the Aldi stores in England and Wales by the end of the current year.
The effort is expected to minimise the wastage of milk, preventing it from being thrown away ‘unnecessarily’ and therefore cutting down overall food wastage.
Aldi argues if milk is stored properly and has no unpleasant or unusual smell, it is safe to be used past its ‘Best Before’ date.
The retailer said it will encourage its customers to check the milk’s quality by performing a ‘sniff test’ to determine whether it is fit for consumption.
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By GlobalDataAldi UK’s sustainability director Liz Fox said: “We are constantly working to be a more sustainable retailer and we are dedicated to preventing food waste wherever we can, both in our stores and helping customers throw away less food at home.
“We hope shoppers embrace this change and [make sure to] look, smell, and taste their milk to see if it’s still fine to use, so together we can reduce the effect food waste has on the environment.”
The decision to remove Use By dates will further support the supermarket giant’s wider goal to cut down its generated food waste by 50% by 2030.
Aldi has already removed the Best Before dates from approximately 60 of its fresh fruit and vegetable products, which includes apples, pears, citrus fruits, potatoes, carrots, and onions.
Earlier this year, the chain decided to roll out clear caps for its milk bottles across 990 stores in the UK, replacing its hard-to-recycle coloured bottle tops.
