U.K. Grocery Chain: Use the Sniff Test on Milk, UK's Morrisons does away with expiration dates to cut down on waste.

Robert59

Robert59

Well-known Member
Location
Now I live in Tennesee. Did live in Michigan.
Supermarket Morrisons is to scrap 'use by' dates on most of its milk in a move it says will stop millions of pints being poured down the sink.

The retailer will instead place 'best before' on 90% of its own-brand milk and encourage customers to use a sniff test to check quality.

Recycling charity Wrap said Morrisons was the first supermarket to make the move, which starts later this month.

https://www.newser.com/story/315483/grocery-chain-use-the-sniff-test-on-milk.html
 

If you have ever watched a dumpster diving video, you'd be appalled at the waste. Food firstly, then retail stores and even what people throw away. The couple who mainly dumpster dive for food have been using the sniff test they say vs. dates. She says she disregards the dates.

I've eaten non dairy yogurts well past the expiration date and they were good. I had bought them about to expire at a grocery outlet store.

Something has to be done.
 
The date that retailers use doesn't really matter to me as long as I understand the meaning of it.

Bagged salad greens are one item where the date seems to be meaningless. I look through the bag to get an idea of how the produce looks.

Even with a dating system, the way a product has been handled can have a big impact on shelf life.

I don't have a problem with giving the milk a sniff and ultimately using my own judgment.
 
They probably want you to sniff it at home, before you use it. Our milk always smells off on the expiration date. Not surprising, because it's already at least 3 weeks old by the time it is sold. I used to date a guy who worked for a large dairy, and he'd bring home milk that had just been packaged.
 
I know I started a thread here about expiration dates. Medications is another one. I have some over the counter meds years expired that I still use. They work and haven't killed me yet.
 
it is like the pendulum is swinging back to you are on your own .......after being told these dates are for our own good etc.

Did some person just wake up to the fact that close dates often end up as trash.

I worked in grocery retail and there are simple ways to change the date stamp from many manufacturers a simple spray of hairspray on stamp ink wipes off date ............most stores have a date stamp they could put over it.
Was done by a few stores very seldom caught unless an employee speaks up.
 
Hope they don't go to that in the U.S. They already stopped "USDA prime, choice or select" on meats.
You don't know if the meat is from the US or another country, or the quality and tenderness.
 
There’s a difference between Use By and Best Before. The first implies that you should use it by that date or it won’t be any good. The second suggests that it is at its best condition by that date; after that it’s probably fine but may be starting to deteriorate. The scent of the milk will let you know if it starting to go off. Nobody will be smelling the carton of milk in the store.

That date is not written in stone that the milk will be bad after that date.
 
Furryanimal said:
any sort of date on milk is ridiculous..I think we can all tell when milk has gone off...a non-story.
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But doesn't that mean you'd have to open it first, most likely at home. So you get home, find it's bad and now have to go back to the store (?) :mad: That's wasting gas and time (unless you can walk to the store and have plenty of the latter). Thinking about this again, I guess (I hope) the retailer meant sniffing it after you get it home but then that brings me back to point one of this reply. :)
 
OneEyedDiva said:
But doesn't that mean you'd have to open it first, most likely at home. So you get home, find it's bad and now have to go back to the store (?) :mad: That's wasting gas and time (unless you can walk to the store and have plenty of the latter). Thinking about this again, I guess (I hope) the retailer meant sniffing it after you get it home but then that brings me back to point one of this reply. :)
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They’re still putting a date on the jug of milk. It will be labelled as “Best By” instead of “Use By”. The latter implied that the milk would be bad by that date. I do watch the BB date when I purchase milk since I always buy a gallon jug and allow myself ten days to use it up.
 
It doesn't hurt sales if the "use by " date is rather quite near in the future. I used to religious go by "use by" dates. If you're a 20+ old single male, you can have eggs in the fridge that have been carbon dated to before the dinosaurs died. I had a buddy cook, and eat them. Since he didn't die, I figured "use by" wasn't such a great indicator of "freshness". But your nose certainly is. We have evolved to smell out bad foods. Works for me.
 

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