TESCO is making a major change to a popular dairy product range and shoppers will be divided.
The nation’s biggest supermarket is axing use by dates on its own-brand yoghurts within weeks in a bid to reduce food waste.
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Many shoppers are confused about the difference between “use-by” and “best-before” dates, and could be throwing food away unnecessarily as a result.
The move comes as the latest stats taken from a survey by food waste prevention group WRAP revealed that UK shoppers waste 54,000 tonnes of yoghurt a year and half of the waste is unopened.
Some 70% of the yoghurt packs wasted are thrown away because the product passed its use by date.
“Use-by” dates are the most important to pay attention to. These are about product safety and the Foods Standards Agency says you shouldn’t eat, cook or freeze food and drink past this date.
That’s because the item has gone off and may contain bacteria, such as salmonella, which could make you unwell.
The “best before” date, meanwhile, is about quality rather than safety.
It means the product is safe to eat, but might not be as fresh as it once was. It shouldn’t make you ill.
Tesco said that axing use by dates in preference of best before dates on its 30 yoghurt lines is safe to do so following its own extensive testing.
Amy Walker, Tesco’s lead technical manager for dairy said: “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.
“We have made the decision to remove ‘Use By’ dates on yoghurts where it is safe to do so, after extensive testing which reveals that the acidity of the product acts as a natural preservative. However, consumers should always use their judgement to determine if the quality is acceptable.
The yoghurts affected by the change include Tesco’s 500g Greek Style Yogurt, Creamfields 500g Greek Style Yogurt, Creamfields 500g Berry Medley Low Fat Yogurt and Finest 150g Lemon Curd Yogurt.
The supermarket will begin rolling out the changes within the next few weeks and expects that all 30 affected product lines will be packaged with best before dates by the end of June.
This latest move by Tesco follows an initiative started by the supermarket in 2018, where best before dates were removed from more than 170 fruit and vegetable lines including apples, potatoes, tomatoes, lemons and other citrus fruit and onions.
But Tesco isn’t the first supermarket to have scrapped use buy dates on its yoghurt lines.
The Co-op started removing the dates on own-brand yoghurts, and replacing them with a “best before” date back in May 2022.
Asda started removing use by dates on more than half of its own-brand yoghurts in January.
How can I avoid wasting food?
An easy way to avoid waste is by eliminating it all together.
Use up what you’ve got lying around and you won’t have to fork out more to replace it.
Take stock in the kitchen by foraging in your fridge or taking a deep dive into your freezer, and slap it all together so you don’t waste a morsel.
Making use of your freezer can also help to extend the lifespan of what you do have even further.
Keep an eye on the “use by” dates of quick to “go-off” foods like meat, fish and dairy products.
And if you think you’re not going to use them in time, freeze them to save them meeting the bottom of the bin instead.
You can freeze fruit and veggies to stop them from ripening too quickly or freeze your leftover meals so you can enjoy them again later.
If you’ve got food in the house that is due to expire, cut it up and put it in a zip-lock bag to put in the freezer to use at a later date as another savvy saving tip.
It’s also important to keep reducing waste on your mind before you head out the door to embark on the daunting supermarket sweep.
By planning your meals and taking into account what you already have in the cupboard, you can avoid buying more than you need.
That just leads to overstocked cupboards and more being thrown away anyway, so it’s best to keep it short and sweet from the get go.
You can take the war on wastage one step further with yellow stickers too.
Supermarkets will often reduce the price of food nearing its use by date to shift stock and avoid their own food wastage.
The food is still good to eat, but not forever.
So try freezing these deals too, to make them last that bit longer.
The biggest perk is that you can often save up to 75% off products marked up in this way, massively reducing your grocery bill.
