Lidl GB scraps ‘use by’ dates on some dairy produce

By saying goodbye to the dates, Lidl GB said the move forms part of the discounter’s plans to tackle food waste. It is now encouraging shoppers to use their judgement on whether products are still good to eat, or not, by using their sense of smell and visual assessment.

Preventing waste in dairy

Scrapping the ‘use by’ dates in favour of ‘best before’ dates, Lidl GB has become the latest retailer to make the move across its key dairy lines, helping prevent entirely edible food from being thrown away.

The supermarket’s updated milk packaging has already started filtering into stores across England and Wales, while customers can expect to see the change on yoghurts from early 2024.

‘Best before’ dates on dairy

Milk and yoghurt that have been stored correctly and doesn’t smell bad or appear lumpy is safe to enjoy. Lidl is therefore encouraging customers to use their judgment and be guided by ‘best before’ dates to help determine whether to consume the product.

Richard Inglis, head of buying at Lidl GB, said: “At Lidl, we know that a lot of perfectly good milk and yoghurt is being thrown away because of ‘use by’ dates. 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.”

This move, says Lidl GB, bolsters existing action taken by the discounter to tackle food waste, which also includes initiatives to tackle waste in stores such as Lidl’s ‘too good to waste’ boxes, which help reduce food waste by 17,000 tonnes each year by selling 5kg of surplus fruit and vegetables for only £1.50.