Aldi UK will replace ‘use by’ dates with ‘best before’ dates from its fresh milk SKUs, excluding filtered milk, across its stores in England and Wales as it seeks to prevent food waste.
The changes will start rolling out in stores by the end of the year, Aldi UK said in a statement.
Close to 300,000 tonnes of milk is wasted by UK households each year, with half of households stating 'use by' date as the reason for throwing it away, according to waste reduction charity WRAP.
The retailer aims to encourage shoppers to perform a ‘sniff test’ before discarding milk as the product is safe to use past its 'best before' date, provided it has been stored properly and does not smell bad.
'More Sustainable Retailer'
Sustainability director at Aldi UK, 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 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 removal of 'use by' dates is one of the several initiatives by Aldi UK to cut food waste and contribute towards its goal of halving this by 2030.
The retailer has already removed 'best before' dates from around 60 fresh fruit and vegetable lines – including apples and pears, citrus fruits, potatoes, carrots and onions.
In early 2023, it teamed up with food waste prevention app Too Good To Go to offer ‘magic bag’ of food that is approaching the end of its shelf life for £3.30, with each bag containing groceries worth at least £10.
Recently, Aldi has also introduced clear caps on its milk bottles to improve recyclability.
