'Use By' vs 'Best Before': Morrisons is encouraging customers to sniff milk to check it's OK to drink

Get a whiff of this!

Morrisons is getting rid of 'use by' dates on most of its milk, swapping them for 'best before' dates instead and encouraging customers to give their milk a sniff to check if it's off.

The supermarket chain says this will stop millions of pints being wasted when they're still perfectly safe to drink.

Morrisons told Newsround that the milks which are affected are: "Morrisons own brand British and Scottish milks, Morrisons For Farmers milks and Morrisons organic milks in store - all of which are cow's milk."

The change will come into effect next month, and recycling charity Wrap says that Morrisons is the first supermarket to do this.

Ian Goode, senior milk buyer at Morrisons, said: "Wasted milk means wasted effort by our farmers and unnecessary carbon being released into the atmosphere.

"Good quality, well-kept milk has a good few days life after normal 'use by' dates - and we think it should be consumed, not tipped down the sink.

"So we're taking a bold step today and asking customers to decide whether their milk is still good to drink. Generations before us have always used the sniff test - and I believe we can too."

What's the difference between 'use by' and 'best before'?

A 'use by' date tells the person buying the product when it is safe to eat or drink until. A 'best before' date leaves more room for interpretation, as it's guidance about when the product will taste its best.

This means that lots of people will get rid of food and drink items as soon as it reaches the 'use by' date on the label, and this can lead to some going to waste when it's still perfectly edible.

In fact, recycling charity Wrap says 85 million pints of milk waste may be due to customers following 'use by' labels, despite research showing it can be used days after the date. It also lists milk as the third most wasted food and drink product in the UK.

How can you tell if milk is off, and can I do the 'sniff test' for any other foods?

The Food Standards Agency (FSA), a government department that looks at food hygiene, told Newsround that if milk has a best before date, as it soon will in Morrisons, you can "check if there are lumps or smell it to see if it smells bad".

Milk will have quite a pungent, sour smell when it's off, so it should be obvious as soon as you give it a whiff.

However, with other foods, and with any milk that still has a use by date, it's not safe to only go by smell when deciding whether or not to eat or drink it.

Narriman Looch who works at the FSA explained: "A use-by date is about safety. If the milk has a use-by date, it can be used until the end of this date but not after. You should not use the 'sniff test' on milk that has a use-by date.

"Food can look and smell fine even after the use-by date has passed, but that doesn't mean it's safe to eat. We can't see or smell the bugs that can cause food poisoning and make you sick."

What is food poisoning?

The NHS website says food poisoning occurs when you "eat something that has been contaminated with germs."

Any type of food can cause food poisoning and it can happen for a number of different reasons. For example if food is not cooked or reheated thoroughly, or if it's left out for too long, or it's handled by someone who's ill or has not washed their hands.