Use-by-dates on food products have created “a culture of us not trusting ourselves or not trusting in our own senses,” according to the environmental charity VOICE.

In an attempt to reduce food waste, multinational retailer Marks and Spencer has removed use-by-dates from fresh milk.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment (VOICE) spokesperson Lyndsey O’Connell said the supermarket chain has “set a good precedent”.

“The Irish Government is committed to reducing our food waste by 50% by 2030," she said.

“So, we'd love to see the Irish retailers follow suit.”

Senses

Ms O’Connell said the best-by-dates have become “quite confusing for people.”

“They've created a culture of us not trusting ourselves or not trusting in our own senses,” she said.

“[It is] a race to the bottom really, in terms of food waste.

“The EPA report in 2020 [said] we waste about 900 tonnes of non-meat dairy products every year.

“Moves like this would just give us a little bit of confidence.”

Woman looking at food in fridge (Chris Rout / Alamy Stock Photo)

Food types

Ms O’Connell said use-by-dates are more relevant depending on the food type.

“If you see them on meat, that's something that we would always say to people that you should follow,” she said.

“For everything else, we have our own indicators of quality.

“We have our sense of touch; we have a sense of smell.

“For anyone who pours a bowl of cereal with gone-off, they’ll know within two seconds whether or not it's gone-off.

“Truth be told, the milk is actually good three or four days past that use-by-date anyway.”

The labels

Ms O’Connell said the labels were introduced at a time when producers were “erring on the side of caution.”

“We need to move away from them because of the amount of food waste created because of these labels,” she said.

“We just can't continue in that way.

“With the rise of food [costs], we're all trying to cut down in our homes in the amount of waste we're producing.”