Coop encourages people to smell food before throwing away with launch of ‘Old Milk’ fragrance

By Abeera Babar Last updated Mar 17, 2019

Food scarcity threatening to become a major concern in the coming future motivated a Swedish grocery chain called Coop to take measures to counter the issue. A report by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency stated that in Sweden approximately thirty percent of the food refuse is still edible. To help ensure that this food isn’t wasted the company recently introduced the ‘Old Milk’ fragrance in order to plead the people to smell and taste milk and other food products to determine if they have gone bad, before disposing of them.

“With the fragrance Old Milk, we want to make people decrease their food waste at home by helping them understand the difference between drinkable and undrinkable milk.” Anneli Bylund, the head of Coop’s sustainability division, explained. Their aim is to encourage people to check all their food products before discarding them and not just rely on expiration dates. The company is launching free samples of the Old Milk on their website.

The company has also taken other measures to combat the issue of food wastage, including but not limited to their work with other organizations to extend the expiration dates on food products, distribution of leftovers to the hungry and they are currently working with chef Paul Svensson to develop flavorful recipes for leftover food. These efforts have resulted in Coop being titled the most sustainable brand and greenest company of 2018.

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