Morrisons shoppers all have same complaint as store scraps milk ‘use by’ dates and moves to ‘sniff test’

MORRISONS shoppers have slammed the supermarket's decision to scrap "use-by" dates on milk and ask customers to use a sniff test to check if it's gone off.

The supermarket will instead use best before dates on 90% of its own-brand milk packaging from the end of January.

The date will be the same, but Morrisons is asking customers not to automatically throw their milk away and instead check whether it's gone off first.

Best before dates indicate that a product will have a better quality if eaten before that day, but use by means food might not be safe to eat after that point.

Morrisons said the move is intended to reduce food waste as millions of pints are unnecessarily thrown away each year.

Milk is the third most wasted food and drink product in the UK, after potatoes and bread, with around 490million pints chucked annually, according to recycling charity Wrap.

It also estimates 85million pints of milk waste may be due to customers following "use by" labels.

However, research shows milk is often fine to be used days after that date, the supermarket said.

Customers will be encouraged to smell their milk to check if it's gone bad before throwing it away.

A sour aroma or curdled consistency is a sign the milk has been spoiled.