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Guide

Use-by and best-before dates explained

A “use by” date is a safety deadline: once it has passed, the food should not be eaten. A “best before” date is about quality: after it, food is usually still fine to eat if it has been stored properly and its packaging is intact.

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Use by vs best before at a glance

Use-by and best-before dates compared
Use by Best before
Wording on the pack “Use by…” “Best before…” or “Best before end…”
What it guarantees Food safety Taste, texture, aroma and nutritional quality
After the date Do not eat Fine to eat if the packaging is intact and the food was stored properly
Typical foods Highly perishable fresh foods: meat, fish, cooked meats, fresh dairy Dry goods, tins, frozen food, UHT milk, eggs
Sale after the date Not allowed Generally allowed, often at a discount

What does a “use by” date mean?

Use-by dates apply to foods that are highly perishable from a microbiological point of view and can become a danger to health after a short time. EU Regulation 1169/2011, which the UK has kept in its own law, is explicit: after the use-by date, the food is deemed unsafe. It should no longer be sold or eaten.

On the pack it reads “use by” followed by the day and month, together with the storage conditions to follow (for example “keep refrigerated below 5 °C”).

Food that looks and smells normal can still be dangerous after its use-by date: some bacteria, such as Listeria, change neither the look nor the smell of food. For a use-by date there is no sniff test — the date is what counts.

What does a “best before” date mean?

The best-before date — legally, the “date of minimum durability” — is the date until which the manufacturer guarantees the food’s quality (taste, texture, aroma, nutritional value), provided it is stored as instructed.

It reads “best before” when the day is given, and “best before end” when only the month or year is, for foods that keep for a long time.

In the United States, apart from infant formula, date labels are not required by federal law, and wording varies (“Best if used by”, “Sell by”, “Use by”). They are mostly quality indications set by the manufacturer.

Can you eat food after its best-before date?

Yes, in most cases, once you have checked three things:

  • The packaging is intact: no bulging, rusty or badly dented tins, no torn bags or swollen lids.
  • The food has been stored as instructed: somewhere dry, away from heat, or in the fridge if the pack says so.
  • It looks, smells and tastes normal. If in doubt, leave it out.

Quality does drop over time: biscuits go soft, coffee loses its aroma, oil can turn rancid. The further past the date, the sooner you should use the food — and throw it away if it tastes or smells wrong.

What about once the pack is opened?

Use-by and best-before dates only apply to unopened food. Once opened, food spoils faster: follow the “once opened, use within … days” instruction when the pack has one, and keep in the fridge anything that needs it. The printed date remains a limit: if it comes first, it is the one that counts.

Freeze to buy time

Freezing food before its use-by date pauses the countdown: at −18 °C, bacteria stop multiplying. Ideally freeze it on the day you buy it, and in any case before the date, unless the pack says not to. After defrosting, preferably in the fridge, eat it quickly — within 24 hours for meat and fish — and do not refreeze it unless you have cooked it first.

Foods without a date

EU rules exempt some foods from any date: fresh fruit and vegetables that have not been peeled or cut, bread and pastries meant to be eaten within the day, wines and drinks of 10 % alcohol or more, vinegar, salt, sugar and chewing gum. For these, the look of the food and how it has been stored are your guide.

For fresh foods without a date, Pistash suggests a deliberately cautious estimated date. How it is calculated is explained in the methodology.

Common examples

Usual type of date by food
Food Usual date Good to know
Fresh meat, poultry, fish Use by Freeze before the date if you won’t cook it in time.
Ham, bacon, packaged cooked meats Use by Only a few days once opened: follow the instructions on the pack.
Fresh pasteurised milk Use by UHT milk carries a best-before date as long as it is unopened.
Yoghurts and dairy desserts Varies Both are common, and some manufacturers have switched from use by to best before: check the pack.
Eggs Best before In the EU, set at no more than 28 days after laying. “Extra fresh” is only allowed until the 9th day.
Pasta, rice, flour, tins Best before Usually still fine after the date if the packaging is intact and dry.
Frozen food Best before Once defrosted, do not refreeze.
Chocolate, biscuits, coffee Best before The date is about taste: the food may lose aroma or crunch.

This guide covers food. For medicines, only the expiry date and the patient leaflet count; if in doubt, ask your pharmacist.

How Pistash helps

When you add a product, Pistash shows whether it has a use-by date, a best-before date or an estimated date, and adapts the wording of its reminders accordingly. Your products are sorted by urgency, so you can see at a glance what to use first.

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