Tesco, a British supermarket chain, began festooning cartons of milk this month with information on the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production, processing, distribution and use of each pint.
Tesco said putting the labels on milk pints – an iconic symbol of British life – helped to raise awareness about climate change and about the impact of store-bought goods.
But the idea of carbon labeling has been fiercely contested in Europe, and varying methods for measuring a product’s carbon footprint have contributed to more general concerns in the food sector that introducing new labels will confuse and worry consumers.
In its statement, Tesco suggested that some of those concerns are overblown.
It said that research conducted independently showed that half of all customers surveyed now understood the correct meaning of the term “carbon footprint” compared with 32 percent of people surveyed in 2008. It also said the research showed that more than half of customers surveyed would seek lower carbon footprint products as part of their weekly shop compared with 35 percent last year.
The survey was conducted on Aug. 3 and 4 and involved 2,024 respondents, Tesco said.
The supermarket said its pint of skimmed milk had a footprint of 716 grams of carbon dioxide, whereas a pint of whole milk had a footprint of 916 grams. A spokeswoman explained that the large difference was because of a larger portion of cream added back into whole milk in the production process.
Tesco said that most of the emissions associated with a pint of milk come from the agricultural stage, where the biggest factor was methane expelled by the cows.