Asda has made a huge change in store to a popular food item, just months after Iceland U-turned following complaints from customers.

At the end of March, Asda changed the packaging on its fresh beef mince in stores, switching from the traditional plastic boxes to vacuum packaging instead. The retailer says this will reduce plastic use by 60% compared to traditional packaging, as spotted by the Express. All types of fresh mince sold in stores have been affected by the change, including full fat beef mince, reduced fat 12% fat beef mince and low-fat 5% fat beef mince.

The label stuck on the packaging says: “60% less plastic packaging vs previous packaging 18/12/2021 - 28/03/2025.”

This change, made on March 29, is being rolled out now and the Express spotted the change in the Leeds Asda Adel branch.

It comes just three months after frozen food specialist Iceland reversed its decision to use the same kind of vacuum packaging on its beef following customer complaints.

The retailer announced in August that it had switched to vacuum packs in order to save 35 tonnes of plastic per year, because vacuum-packed mince takes up less space once the air is removed, reducing the amount of plastic needed.

However, Iceland in January announced it was pulling a U-turn, apparently following requests from customers, and has since reverted back to the ‘classic’ packaging.

Iceland said on Twitter: “You asked, we delivered. The classic mince packaging is back!”

The retailer had rolled out the packs in more than 1,000 stores following a 12-week trial in 50 stores.

Complaints had surfaced on social media about vacuum-packed mince from various retailers in the past year.

Posting on Reddit, u/goosepond01 said: “Vacuum-packed mince is a nightmare. I know this isn't the first complaint post on here but I'm genuinely trying to figure out how the **** you cook this.”

For anyone who buys vacuum-packed mince, u/hostalavistababy added: “I have developed a method of cooking it I like to call the ''shiatsu massage". Basically I get two wooden spatulas, one in each hand and after I put the disgusting meat cuboid into the pan I furiously chop it with both spatulas like I'm having some sort of mental health crisis. That usually does the job.”