Consumers told to use “sniff test” on milk

More and more food is being wasted

Use-by dates on milk could get the scrap as consumers are told to use the “sniff test” to smell whether milk has gone off.

The food waste reduction charity Wrap believes that use-by labels cause 100m pints of milk to be wasted and thrown away each year.

The company wants to see the Food Standards Agency and government bodies to encourage moving away from the older system to help encourage consumers not to automatically throw milk away.

Wrap said use-by dates are needed for meat products but for items such as milk, cheese and naan bread the dates are unnecessary.

The charity revealed that £700 of food is wasted in households each year, it suggested a “best-before” label should be used instead.

Andrew Parry, the charity’s special adviser on food and drink, told The Times: “We are exploring with the dairy sector whether milk could move to a best-before date.” 

“That could really help reduce milk wastage.” 

Parry also said that he hoped the new move would be put in place by the end of the year.