It is very important to understand the difference between the two labels, i.e., best before and use by. As we know, food contains bacteria, and if it is stored for too long without the right conditions, then the food causes food poisoning. This is the reason that people throw out food. These dates are very confusing to them, and every year, millions of tonnes of food are wasted across the globe.
Food Date Labelling
The difference between best-before and use-by dates are very important. For example, there are some foods that cause health risks due to the way they deteriorate over time. Let’s take, for example, dairy and meat products. You will see on the package that there is an expiration date either denoted by “use by” or “best before. What does it mean exactly?
The use-by dates are for your safety.
Use-by dates are given on the package for safety reasons. It is very important to remember to never eat that food after the use-by date, even if it smells and looks okay because it could make you very sick.
It is OK to cook and eat food as long as it is within the use-by date, but don’t eat that food after midnight as it goes bad. It is found in foods like dairy, meat, and ready-made salads.
It is important to follow the storage and safety instructions given on the use-by-date package.
If there are instructions that tell you to refrigerate your food after opening the pack, then you should do it. Keep the food below 5 °C as bacteria don’t grow in cold surroundings.
It is OK to cook your food until midnight of the food’s use-by date, then you can cool it down and keep it in your refrigerator. That gives you a 48-hour window in which you must eat that food or it will spoil. It is recommended to label your food after the use-by date so you won’t mix it with other food that you have kept like that.
Don’t cook, eat, or refrigerate your food after the use-by date. EVER!
Best-before dates are for quality.
Best-before dates are there for the quality of the food and not for the safety of the food. It is also known as “BEE” (best before the end). This means that the food will be safe to eat, but it might not be at its best. The texture and flavor might not be as good. There are a number of food products that have best-before dates appearing on them, including cheese, tinned foods (like canned tomatoes, and baked beans), dried foods (like rice and pasta), and frozen foods (like ice cream, chips, and peas).
If the food is not stored according to the instructions given on the package, then the best-before date won’t be accurate.
The Quality Test
How can you tell if the food that has passed its best-before date is safe to eat? We can look at some sensory cues. Let’s take some examples:
- For bread, we can look at the visible molds.
- For biscuits or chips, we can taste them and see if they are stale.
- For dairy products, we can smell if they are soured.
These tests are not going to work on food as it is hard to say if the food is safe to eat. It could look good and smell fine even after the use-by date, but the food will not be safe to eat. The bacteria or bugs won’t be visible to us with our naked eyes, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not there. That’s how people get food poisoning. It is the job of the manufacturer to carefully label these foods according to how they are made.
It is important to check your food’s label before buying it because milk with a use-by date should not be used if it is past its use-by date, even if it smells OK. Milk with a best-before date, on the other hand, can be sniffed to see if it has soured.
How to avoid food wastage?
- Remember to follow the storage instructions on the food packet.
- Foods that are used, cooked, and frozen are the first to approach their use-by date.
- Always keep your food colder than 5°C.
- It is important to plan your meals ahead of time.
It is very important to develop the habit of always checking your food and refrigerator because many people have a tendency to store their food in the refrigerator and then completely forget about it. Lastly, we owe it to the people whose hard work allowed us to cook and enjoy our meals.
