Millions of kilos of perfectly edible food get thrown away every day — simply because people see a date on the packaging and assume it means "dangerous after this point." In reality, there are two very different types of dates, and confusing them costs you money and wastes food unnecessarily.

The two types of dates

✅ Best Before (BBD)

A quality date. The product is at its best before this date, but it's often still perfectly safe to eat afterwards. Think of it as a recommendation, not a deadline.

⚠️ Use By

A safety date. After this date, the product may be unsafe to eat — even if it looks and smells fine. This is the one you should always respect.

Best Before: quality, not safety

The "best before" date appears on products with a long shelf life. After this date, the product might lose some flavour, texture or nutritional value — but it's generally not dangerous.

Products you can usually still eat past their best before date:

  • Dried pasta, rice and grains — safe for months or years past the date
  • Canned goods — safe for years if the tin is undamaged
  • Biscuits, crackers and crisps — may go stale but not harmful
  • Frozen food — safe indefinitely when kept frozen; quality may decline
  • Honey — never actually expires
  • Vinegar, sugar, salt — essentially permanent

🔍 Use your senses

For best before products, smell it, look at it, and taste a small amount if unsure. Mould, off smells, strange colours or sliminess are the real warning signs — not the date on the packet.

Use By: this one matters

The "use by" date is a different story. It appears on products that can harbour harmful bacteria as they age — products where you genuinely can't tell by looking or smelling whether it's safe.

Always respect use by dates on:

  • Raw meat and poultry
  • Fresh fish and seafood
  • Fresh ready-to-eat meals
  • Some dairy products (fresh cream, certain soft cheeses)
  • Pre-packed salads and cut vegetables

These products can contain bacteria like Listeria or Salmonella that grow without any visible signs. After the use by date, bin them — even if they look fine.

What about "sell by" and "display until"?

These dates are for the shop, not for you. They tell the retailer when to remove products from the shelf. A product can have a sell-by date of today but a use-by date of next week — it's still perfectly fine to buy and eat.

📱 Never miss an expiry date again

FreshGarant tracks both best before and use by dates for everything in your fridge and pantry. Get notified before things expire — so you can use them in time instead of throwing them out.

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Quick reference guide

  • Pasta, rice, flour past best before → usually fine
  • Yoghurt 1–2 days past best before → smell it first, usually fine
  • Hard cheese past best before → cut off mould, rest is fine
  • Eggs past best before → do the float test — sinks = fresh, floats = bin it
  • Raw chicken past use by → bin it, no exceptions
  • Ready meal past use by → bin it

The bottom line

Best before = quality. Use your judgement. Most things are still fine.
Use by = safety. Don't risk it. Respect it.

Understanding this one distinction can save you hundreds of euros a year in food you would have thrown away unnecessarily — while keeping you safe from the products that actually matter.