Lidl has scrapped ‘use by’ dates on own brand milk and yoghurt to help customers reduce food waste at home.
The updated milk packaging has already started to filter into Lidl’s stores in England and Wales. Yoghurt labels will be changed from early 2024.
The discounter is the latest grocer to make the move with both Sainsbury’s and Aldi ditching use by labels on milk in recent months and instead allow customers to use their own judgement.
Lidl GB head of buying Richard Inglis said: “At Lidl, we know that a lot of perfectly good milk and yoghurt is being thrown away because of ‘use by’ dates.
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“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.”
The initiative comes as Lidl tries to minimise food waste.
It launched its ‘Too Good to Waste’ boxes in 2019. He boxes provide approximately 5kg of fruit and vegetables that are slightly damaged, discoloured, or deteriorated but are still good to eat for just £1.50.