Asda changes yoghurts range to reduce food waste

Asda has announced a major change to over half of its own-brand yoghurts by removing Use By dates an…

Asda has announced a major change to over half of its own-brand yoghurts by removing Use By dates and replacing them with Best Before dates to help customers combat food waste in the home.

The change follows data from climate action NGO WRAP which says that half of all yoghurt wasted in UK households is in unopened packs. The report also showed that 70 per cent of all the yoghurt wasted in the home is due to the product ‘not being used in time’, with the date label cited as the reason.

The Asda Technical Manager, Microbiologist and Product Manager have been conducting robust food safety and quality evaluations to confirm that existing recipes in those 28 lines, which sell around 455,000 a week, make it safe for those products to change to ‘Best Before’ labelling.

Over the next few weeks customers will notice the label change on products such as Asda natural yoghurt, Greek Yoghurt and Extra Special Strawberry and Hazelnut.

Paul Gillow, vice president – Fresh & Frozen Foods at Asda, said: “We are always looking at ways we can help customers reduce food waste in the home, and with research from WRAP saying 54,000 tonnes of edible yoghurt is thrown away unnecessarily each year we are hopeful this change will both make a big difference to the environment and save customers money at the same time.”

Catherine David, director of Collaboration & Change, WRAP, said: “WRAP is thrilled to see our partner Asda make these changes on yoghurts – which will help reduce food waste in our homes. Wasting food feeds climate change and costs us money – with the average family spending £700 year on good food which ends up in the bin. Our research shows applying the appropriate date label to products like yoghurts can help reduce the amount of good food that is thrown in the bin.”

The change follows Asda’s removal of Best Before dates on almost 250 of its fresh fruit and vegetables products late last year including citrus fruits, potatoes, cauliflowers and carrots.

Globally, food waste is a significant contributor to climate change, accounting for 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). In the UK alone, food waste is responsible for an estimated 36 million tonnes of GHG emissions every year, according to WRAP.