The Co-op is making a big change to their own-brand dairy product in the hope it will help consumers during the cost of living crisis

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A supermarket has issued a crucial message to customers who buy milk from their stores. In a bid to reduce waste, the Co-op is making a huge change to their own-brand dairy product.

The retail giant is hoping the move will help households amid the cost of living crisis. The store is adding a new label to its own-brand milk products, telling customers to freeze the milk.

It comes after data revealed more than £150m of milk is wasted every year, reports Nottinghamshire Live. The Co-op hopes encouraging customers to store milk in the freezer will help cut down on the 70,000 tonnes of milk wasted annually.

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The new on-pack message from Co-op will read: “Don’t waste me, freeze me, in a suitable, clean container, then defrost in the fridge, use within 24 hours.” The new message will appear across all Co-op own brand milk products from September 2022.

According to the Co-op, two-thirds of UK adults don’t freeze milk at home, and 31% didn’t know you even could. Of those unaware that milk could be frozen, 34% of them said they’d now start putting their milk in the freezer.

Milk is best within one month of freezing and for larger bottles it’s best to decant them into a container. When it’s ready to be used, you can defrost it in the fridge to thaw fully and then use the defrosted milk within 24 hours.

Catherine Dishington, environment and sustainability manager at Co-op, said: “We’re committed to reducing our impact on the planet and we’re trying to help our customers and members make small changes that collectively, can make an impact. Freezing food is one of the easiest ways to make the most out of your weekly shop and prevent food wastage but not everyone knows that it’s perfectly safe to freeze milk.

"We hope that by having this message on pack it will not only save customers some money, it should also help them to throw away less.”