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Marks & Spencer (M&S), the high-end UK retailer, will next week start using pioneering packaging that it believes raises the shelf-life of berries stored in fridges by up to two days, according to the Guardian.

The London-based newspaper reports that from Monday punnets of M&S strawberries will include a 8cm x 4.5cm strip that absorbs the ripening hormone ethylene.

If the trial is successful, M&S will introduce strips on all of its berry punnets.

The supermarket claims its packaging will remain as recyclable as ever and that earlier trials showed the strip produced a 4 per cent reduction in waste fruit.