Milking it

Why, sometimes, you can't trust your nose - according to the Foods Standards Agency

Words: Sam Lewis. Images: iStock.

Morrisons is the first–and not the last–to say goodbye to the use-by dates we swear by, with the intention to reduce waste.

From the end of January, the supermarket chain will instead keep best before dates on 90% of its own-brand milk and encourage customers to use a "sniff test" to check quality. 

How much waste is actually created to deem it a necessity to remove dates on consumable products and can we really trust our nose?

What’s the date?

The idea is to stop people relying on use-by dates, as more often than not, milk is safe to use past its date—just a little gross.

How much milk is going to waste to warrant supermarkets ditching dates?

Recycling Charity Wrap says that milk is the third most wasted food and drink product in the UK, with approximately 490 million pints being thrown away annually. 

That equates to £29,400,000 being wasted, solely on own-brand milk; that’s more than a lot of people make per year.

Imagine what else that money could be spent…