Food waste reduction charity Wrap has suggested that the labels cause more than 100 million pints of milk to be unnecessarily thrown away each year.
The charity is lobbying for dairy companies, the Food Standards Agency and government bodies to move away from use-by dates to encourage households not to automatically throw products out.
It argued that use-by dates are needed for foods such as meat – for food safety reasons – but are not necessary for other products, for example milk, yoghurts, cheese and naan bread.
The charity, which revealed that the average home wastes £700 of food a year, suggested a "best-before" label should be used instead.
Andrew Parry, the charity's special adviser on food and drink, told The Times: "We are exploring with the dairy sector whether milk could move to a best-before date.
“That could really help reduce milk wastage."
Wrap examined 9,000 items in 78 stores owned by the UK's biggest supermarket chains and discovered retailers were contributing to the food waste problem by ignoring official guidance on labelling.
Mr Parry said he hoped the new guidance would be in place by the end of the year.
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