It’s all about sustainability (Picture: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Lidl shoppers are no longer going to be able to rely on ‘use by’ dates on yoghurt and fresh milk products, as they’re being scrapped.
The dates are being replaced with ‘best before’ labels instead, in a bid to help customers tackle food waste.
Lidl bosses say we can now use our ‘own judgement’ as to whether a product is safe to consume or not, potentially stopping us from putting perfectly good food in the bin.
‘Best before’ dates indicate the quality of food, while ‘use by’ dates are used to show when a product is no longer safe to eat.
So, before you pour that milk onto your cereal, you’re going to have to do the sniff test to make sure you’re not about to ruin a perfectly good breakfast.
‘At Lidl, we know that a lot of perfectly good milk and yoghurt is being thrown away because of ‘use by’ dates,’ said Richard Inglis, head of buying at Lidl GB.
‘It therefore makes total sense to us to make the switch to ‘best before’ so that shoppers can use their own judgement on whether their milk or yoghurt is good to consume.
‘We’ve got a long record of making positive change to reduce food waste, and this latest step builds on our commitment to helping households tackle food waste at home.’
While those who aren’t strangers to a dodgy stomach might be slightly concerned by the news, Lidl isn’t the only supermarket to have made this switch.
M&S, Aldi, Coop and Morrisons have also all swapped use by dates for best before.
Lidl have already started making the change to their packaging, and shoppers can expect to see if fully rolled out by early 2024.
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It will help tackle household waste.