M&S has removed ‘Use By’ dates across its RSPCA assured fresh milk as part of its commitment to halve food waste by 2030 and reach net zero by 2040.

The change, which is being rolled out across all of the retailer’s UK stores from this week, will see ‘Use By’ dates on its Select Farms British and organic fresh milk replaced with ‘Best Before’ dates.

The move sees M&S as the first supermarket to offer ‘Best Before’ labelling on fully recyclable milk bottles as it looks to help customers tackle food waste.

This comes as its latest Family Matters Index found that 72% of UK families are taking steps to reduce household waste, and over half say it’s important that the shops they buy from make it easier for them to make more sustainable choices.

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Climate action NGO, Wrap also found that UK homes are estimated to waste over 490m pints of milk a year.

“Milk is the third most wasted food in the home behind potatoes and bread. The main reason is not drinking before the Use-By date,” Wrap director for collaboration and change, Catherine David, said.

“By changing its British and organic fresh milk to a BestBefore date, M&S is instantly helping its customers save money and cut waste by giving them more time to consume the milk they buy.

“WRAP’s joint Best Practice with the Food Standards Agency, Defra and Dairy UK states to only apply a Use-By date when required for food safety reasons, and it’s fantastic to see M&S – a Courtauld 2030 signatory – making this switch.”

M&S director of corporate affairs, Victoria McKenzie-Gould, added that since the retailer first launched Plan A, the businesses integrated programme to drive change in 2007, it has been “taking action on our roadmap to net zero and on the issues that matter most to our customers”.

“We know tackling food waste is a priority for our customers and we’re confident that these small changes to the packaging of our RSPCA Assured fresh milk, will make a big difference – as seen when we led the way in the removal of best before dates on our fruit and vegetables.”