Research by European dairy giant Arla Foods has revealed a third of UK consumers are binning food unnecessarily.
It is now planning to change the labels on its milk and yogurt products sold in the country to make them easier to understand.
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By GlobalDataIn a poll of 20,000 people, the Danish cooperative found 34% ended up binning food if past its ‘best before’ date, while another 38% do the same once the product has passed its ‘use by’ date.
It suggests this is because while more than three-quarters (77%) of respondents check food and drink packaging before they purchase, only 15% are confident they can decipher everything on the label.
Over a third (34%) of respondents were unsure of the difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’, and 11% believe them to be the same thing.
Arla pointed out standard fresh milk can often last a few days (typically two to three days) beyond the date on bottle, while filtered milks will often last longer.
Announcing label changes as a result of the research, Arla claims it will become the first dairy company to remove ‘use by’ dates on all branded fresh milk and replace with ‘best before’ dates only, in a bid to cut confusion and help reduce food waste.
Fran Ball, director of quality, environment and safety at Arla’s UK arm, said: “As a nation, we waste around 490 million pints of milk every year. By making some changes to the labels on our fresh milk and yogurts, we want to make people’s lives a little easier and help to cut food waste in the home.”
She added: “If changing the label gives people the confidence that their milk might still be ok for a few further days after the date on the bottle, we’ll all play a part in reducing food waste.”
The new ‘best before’ labels will roll-out across all of Arla’s branded fresh milk, including Cravendale, BOB and Goodness, with the entire yogurt portfolio also making the switch in 2020.
