Tesco switches to ‘Best Before’ dates on over 30 yoghurt lines

Tesco is switching from ‘Use By’ to ‘Best Before’ dates on more than 30 yoghurt lines in a bid to help customers reduce food waste at home.

The move looks to enable consumers to use their own judgement on whether to eat a product or not, as research by climate action NGO, Wrap found that 70% of packs wasted in the home are thrown away due to a product having passed its date.

It also discovered that consumers waste 54,000 tonnes of yoghurt each year and half of yoghurts are binned in unopened packs.

As a result, the leading retailers lines including Greek Style Yoghurt, Creamfields Greek Style Yoghurt, Creamfields Berry Medley Low Fat Yoghurt and Finest Lemon Curd Yoghurt will see the switch between now and the end of June.

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“We know some shoppers may be unclear about the difference between ‘Use By’ and ‘Best Before’ dates on food and this can lead to perfectly edible items being thrown away unnecessarily,” Tesco lead technical manager for dairy, Amy Walker said.

“We have made the decision to remove ‘Use By’ dates on yogurts where it is safe to do so, after extensive testing which reveals that the acidity of the product acts as a natural preservative.”

However, Walker added that consumers should “always use their judgement to determine if the quality is acceptable.”

Wrap director of collaboration and change, Catherine David said: “Wasting food feeds climate change and costs us money – with the average family spending over £700 a year 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 that is thrown away. For yogurts, applying a ‘Best before’ date rather than a ‘Use by’ date means that people can use their judgement to eat beyond that date, giving people longer to use what they buy.”