Sainsbury’s has become the latest supermarket to commit to scrapping use-by dates on its milk range.

The retailer says the change will be applied to 44 products it sells, including all fresh and organic milk, in the hope that the move will give customers more time to use up cartons they have at home.

Stores have already removed use-by dates on yoghurts and stopped using best before dates entirely on 1,500 other items such as pineapples, pumpkins and apples.

Food waste group WRAP says the average family spends over £730 a year on good food which ends up in the bin.

Milk, it says, is the third most wasted food with over 490 million pints thrown away each year – usually because it has gone past its use-by date.

Sainsbury’s says 730 million pints of its own brand milk range will now instead use best before dates as a guide for customers who it hopes will use their own judgement to decide what remains useable.

According to the Food Standards Agency use-by dates should be linked to food safety where as best-before dates relate to food quality - where little harm can come to those who choose to consume the item beyond the date stamped.

The new-look labels at Sainsbury’s will be rolled out in the new year.

Sainsbury’s is joining the likes of M&S and Morrisons in encouraging shoppers to use social cues like the ‘sniff test’ to establish whether the milk is useable.

Ruth Cranston, Director of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at Sainsbury’s, said: “Around a third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted.

“Combating food waste is one of our top priorities and we are continuously innovating to tackle this issue, all the way from farms and suppliers, right to our customers’ homes.”

Last month Sainsbury’s began selling its own milk with a clear coloured cap to improve the recyclability of the plastic.