Lidl scraps ‘use by’ dates on dairy products

Lidl has ditched ‘use by’ dates in favour of ‘best before’ ones on all its yoghurt and fresh milk ranges, in a move to help customers reduce food waste at home. 

The grocer’s updated milk packaging has already started filtering into stores across England and Wales, while customers can expect to see further changes in the dairy range from early 2024. 

The supermarket has become the latest retailer in making the changes to its dairy lines, with Sainsbury’s and Aldi scrapping ‘use by’ dates in recent months. 

The move announced today (8 December) bolsters existing action taken by the retailer to tackle food waste, such as the ‘too good to waste’ boxes which sell 5kg of surplus fruit and vegetables for £1.50. 

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 changes to reduce food waste, and this latest step builds on our commitment to helping households tackle food waste at home.”