British groceries and general merchandise retailer Tesco has announced its plans to change the labelling of over 30 of its own-brand yogurt lines to reduce food waste.
The retailer will now replace the ‘Use By’ labels with ‘Best Before’ labels on its yogurt packs.
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This will include Tesco’s Creamfields Greek Style Yogurt, Greek Style Yogurt, Finest Lemon Curd Yogurt and Creamfields Berry Medley Low Fat Yogurt.
The company said that this new move will allow the customers to use their own judgement on whether a product is suitable to be consumed.
Tesco Dairy lead technical manager Amy Walker 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 yogurts 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.
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By GlobalData“These lines represent a significant proportion of our own-brand yogurts, and we hope to phase the change in between now and the end of June.”
The ‘Best Before’ dates are mentioned on food packaging by retailers to indicate that the quality of the product is not as good as it previously was, but it is safe to eat.
Otherwise, the ‘Use By’ label shows that products should be consumed before or on the mentioned date; eating it after could be potentially unsafe.
The latest move is part of Tesco’s wider initiative to reduce waste. It began in 2018 after the retailer removed ‘Best Before’ dates from nearly 170 of its fruit and vegetable product lines.
