Best Before vs Use by Date Meanings Explained

How sure are you of the use by date meaning that you see every day on the labels of the food you buy? Despite it being a vital piece of information for food safety, many of us don’t know what it indicates. This can lead to food wastage or worse - serving or consuming dangerous food. 

As providers of convenient online food hygiene courses, we’re here to help remove any confusion about best before, sell by and use by date meanings. That way, you can use and store food confidently. 

Use by vs Best Before Dates

Food labelling requirements mean that the labels you see on your food actually contain a host of important information including nutritional information, the presence of any common allergens as well as a use by or sell by date. 

It’s important you know how to interpret the difference between use by vs best before dates to avoid misinformation and food wastage by not understanding if food is unsafe to eat or merely past its best quality. Here’s how.

A use by date indicates the food should not be consumed after the date stated, as it may no longer be safe for consumption. You shouldn’t eat, freeze or cook food past the use by date. 

A best before date on the other hand, just indicates that the quality of the food may start to deteriorate after the date stated.

Let’s dig further into the details of both to explain why.

Use by Date Meaning

Use by dates are the most important dates to understand from a safety perspective. Use by dates are assigned to foods that could be dangerous if they are eaten after that date, even if they look and smell totally fine. 

If you’re a food professional you should know that it’s illegal to sell or serve food past its use by date. 

However, don’t rely on the date being correct if the food hasn’t been stored with attention to the proper food safety temperature controls. Improper storage could cause it to spoil before the given date.

What kind of foods have a use by date?

Popular foods that you’ll typically find allocated a use by date are:

• Fresh meat and fish
• Ready-prepared salads, fruit or vegetables
• Dairy products like yoghurt
• Ready meals
• Cooked meats like ham and pâté
• Soft cheeses
• Most high risk foods

Best Before Dates Meaning

Best before dates are about quality rather than food safety. These dates indicate when food might begin to lose its flavour, texture or nutritional value. Crucially though, they’re still safe to eat after the best by date. 

While you can legally sell food past its best before date, you should inform customers if you do so. It could be considered best practice not to use food past the best before date due to the possibility of inferior texture and flavours.

However, remember that even best before dates assume proper storage. Poor storage conditions can affect quality more quickly than the date suggests.

What kind of foods have a best before date?

Foods that typically carry best before dates include:

• Canned foods like tinned tomatoes, soups, beans or vegetables
• Dried pasta and rice
• Biscuits and crackers
• Frozen foods
• Cereals
• Condiments, jams or sauces (until opened)

What Does a Sell by Date Mean?

If you prepare food which is intended for sale (such as a professional kitchen, bakery or cafe) you need to be aware of what sell by dates mean as well as best before and use by date meanings.

Sell by dates are not intended for customers, they are for internal use in stock control. They are intended as a safeguard for FIFO stock rotation that ensures customers only purchase food with adequate shelf life. i.e. it won’t expire the day after they take it home. 

FAQs

Are use by dates changing for dairy products? 

As we’ve touched on in this article, the main reason that most shelf-stable foods have best by dates instead of use by dates is to avoid unnecessary food wastage. 

Some retailers in the UK have moved to best by dates for milk in order to minimise consumers throwing away milk that is past the expiry date but still fine to drink. 

People are being advised instead to perform a ‘sniff check’ on milk to check whether it’s still okay to drink in the days after the stated best by date. 

The reason behind this push is to stop milk wastage which stands as the third most wasted food by UK consumers despite being highly resource intensive to produce.

Note: A sensory test is not sufficient for establishing if food with a use by date is still safe to eat. Many of these foods will not have a change in smell despite being potentially harmful to consume after the date.

How does freezing affect use by dates?

When your food is frozen bacteria cannot grow on it, effectively ‘pausing’ the use by date. 

However, while food can remain safe indefinitely when frozen at -18°C or below, the quality will deteriorate over time. Raw meat for example will only retain its best quality for approximately 6 months.

You must freeze food before the use by date for it to be stored safely and once defrosted the food should be cooked or eaten within 24 hours.

For food safety courses, think Virtual College

If you work with food in a professional setting it’s especially critical that you have up-to-date food safety knowledge, like sell by, best before and use by date meanings.

Proper food safety knowledge allows you to reduce food waste, have tight stock control and ensure the safety of your customers. 

At Virtual College we’ve developed a comprehensive range of food safety courses, which are quick, convenient and contain all of the knowledge you and your team need to operate safely and confidently.