Catherine Saxelby's Foodwatch | Q. What's the difference between a Use-by and Best-before date on food?

Q. What's the difference between a Use-by and Best-before date on food?

1. Use-by date

The Use-by date gives you an idea of how long you can safely consume food. It should be eaten or thrown away by the Use-by date as after that date the food is not safe to eat, even though you may not see any signs of spoilage like mould or an off-smell. Do NOT consume the product after its Use-by date has run out. For health and safety reasons, it is illegal to sell food once past its use-by date.

Use-by dates are generally found on perishables and short-shelf life foods such as fresh meat packed at the supermarket, packet ham and other deli meats, milk, yoghurt, custard and dairy products as well as many ready-to-heat products like chilled pasta sauce or garlic bread.

Check out some examples of Use-by dates

	Use-by date on fresh milk in supermarket 7-8 day shelf life
	Use-by date on chilled French onion dip in supermarket deli cabinet 14 day shelf life
	Use-by date on packet of shaved ham from the supermarket deli cabinet 30+ day shelf life

2.Best-before date

A product will remain fresh and of good quality right up to its Best-before date (and sometimes beyond) if it is properly stored, both at home and at the supermarket. The food is not spoiled immediately after the date and can still be sold if in good condition. However its quality has begun to decline. Most cereals, biscuits, snack foods, flour, eggs, canned and frozen foods are labelled with a Best-before date.

The photo shows a muesli bar pack stamped with a Best-before date. This date marking is typical of packaged foods. It has a 4 month shelf life.

If you're unsure of whether to eat it past the Best-before date, use the look-and-sniff test. If the food looks and smells as you would expect, it should be safe to eat.

3. Baked-on date (also can be Baked-for)

A Baked-on date is usually found on bread, muffins and cakes with a shelf life of less than 7 days so you can tell how fresh they are.

See the shot of crusty bread with a neck tag giving the date plus a supermarket bread listing both a Baked-on AND a Best-before date.

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Comments (5)

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Hi, with the 'Best Before date', even though a store can still sell it, would it be fair to say, that they should not be deliberately covering up that date with their 'reduced' labels so that you cannot even read the best before date?
Thanks

1976_michelle , August 01, 2011

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What I would like to see displayed on products in addition to a use by date or best before date is an indication of how long something will keep after it is opened.

Robyn Moon , January 16, 2012

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Hi Michelle. No the stores should NOT cover up the Date of Marking with their stickers of any sort. And Robyn I do see advice on how long to keep jars and chilled food AFTER opening eg "refrigerate after opening" on jars of relish OR "use by 6 months" on bottles of olives or acidic foods like pickles. Do you not spot such statements? Cheers Catherine

Catherine Saxelby , January 27, 2012 | url

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Hi Catherine
I do see some of those signs, but apart from refrigerate after opening, it doesn't say how long then to keep in the refrigerator. Cereals, biscuits or any other food just have a useby or best before but not how long to keep after opened.

Robyn Moon , January 31, 2012

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Robyn

There would be to many variations to environmental conditionss to make any suggestions as to how long something will keep after opening. The manufacturers would open themselves up to all sorts of litigation from those in society who are unable to use common sense and want to blame someone ese for there problems.

Robin Hall , April 17, 2012

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