Use-by vs best-before dates: what’s the difference?

Use-by and best-before dates are easy to mix up, but they do not mean the same thing.

One is about safety. The other is about quality.

A use-by date tells you when food may no longer be safe to eat. Once that date has passed, you should not eat it, cook it or freeze it, even if it looks and smells fine.

A best-before date is different. It tells you when food is expected to be at its best. After that date, the food may lose flavour, texture or freshness, but it is often still safe to eat if it has been stored properly and the packaging is intact.

In short: use-by dates protect your health. Best-before dates protect quality.

That difference matters because date labels are one of the reasons perfectly edible food gets thrown away. WRAP estimates that UK households wasted 6.0 million tonnes of food and drink in 2022, around 210 kg per household, or 88 kg per person per year. Of that, 4.4 million tonnes was food that could have been eaten.

A lot of this waste comes down to timing: food gets pushed to the back of the fridge, forgotten, or thrown away because the date label is misunderstood.

Question	Use-by date	Best-before date
What it means	Food safety	Food quality
Typical wording	“Use by…”	“Best before…” or “Best before end…”
Common foods	Fresh meat, fresh fish, cooked meats, ready meals, ready-to-eat salads, some chilled dairy products	Pasta, rice, tins, biscuits, coffee, tea, UHT milk, frozen food, many dry goods
After the date	Do not eat, cook or freeze	Often still fine: check it first
Main risk	Food poisoning from bacteria you may not see, smell or taste	Loss of flavour, texture or freshness

What does “use by” mean?

A use-by date appears on foods that can become unsafe quickly from a microbiological point of view. In practical terms, that means foods such as raw meat, fresh fish, cooked meats, chilled ready meals and ready-to-eat salads.

The legal basis is retained Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which states that highly perishable foods must carry a use-by date rather than a minimum durability date. After the use-by date, the food is deemed unsafe.

The Food Standards Agency gives the rule plainly: never eat food after its use-by date, even if it looks and smells fine. Harmful bacteria cannot always be seen, smelled or tasted.

You can eat food up to midnight on the use-by date, but only if it has been stored exactly as the label says. For chilled foods, that usually means keeping them in the fridge at 5°C or below. After the use-by date has passed, do not eat it, cook it or freeze it.

What does “best before” mean?

A best-before date is about quality, not safety. It tells you how long the manufacturer expects the food to remain at its best: flavour, texture, colour, crispness or freshness.

You will usually see best-before dates on foods such as:

• pasta, rice and pulses;
• tins and jars;
• biscuits, crackers and cereals;
• coffee and tea;
• UHT milk;
• frozen food;
• some dairy products, depending on the product and manufacturer.

After the best-before date, the food is not automatically bad. A packet of pasta may be perfectly usable. Biscuits may be a little soft. Coffee may lose aroma. Frozen food may lose texture over time.

The key question is no longer “Has the date passed?” but “Has the food been stored properly, and does it still look, smell and taste normal?”

What should you do after the date?

If the food is past its use-by date, do not take a chance. Throw it away. Harmful bacteria can be present even when food looks, smells and tastes normal.

If the food is past its best-before date, the decision is different. Check it sensibly:

1. Packaging: is it intact? For tins, is it swollen, leaking or badly rusted?
2. Appearance: is the colour normal? Is there any mould where there should not be?
3. Smell: does it smell as expected when opened?
4. Taste: for suitable foods, try a small amount. If it tastes wrong, do not eat it.

The simple rule is: never rely on your senses for use-by dates; use your senses carefully for best-before dates.

This is exactly where many households lose track. WRAP’s food date labelling guidance says clearer labelling and storage advice can help reduce the 1.8 million tonnes of food thrown away from UK homes each year because it is not used in time.

What about “sell by” or “display until”?

For shoppers, the two labels that matter are use by and best before.

Older or retailer-facing labels such as sell by or display until are about stock control, not your decision at home. They should not be treated as the point where food suddenly becomes unsafe.

Which foods carry no date at all?

Some foods do not need a best-before or use-by date under the rules. Examples include:

• fresh fruit and vegetables that have not been peeled, cut or similarly treated;
• vinegar;
• cooking salt;
• solid sugar;
• chewing gum;
• wines and drinks containing 10% alcohol by volume or more.

This does not mean every product keeps perfect quality forever. It simply means the law does not require a minimum durability date for these foods.

How to avoid wasting food because of dates

The problem is rarely the date itself. The problem is seeing it too late.

A pack of chicken at the back of the fridge, a half-forgotten ready meal, a bag of salad hidden behind the milk: by the time you notice them, the use-by date may already have passed. For best-before foods, the opposite often happens: perfectly usable food is thrown away too early because the label is misunderstood.

That is where Date Limite helps. Instead of finding forgotten food after the date has passed, you scan the barcode, add the date once, and get reminded before it is too late.

Foods with a use-by date can be treated as urgent. Foods with a best-before date can be treated more flexibly. The result is simple: less waste, without taking risks with food safety.

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Sources: Food Standards Agency: Best before and use-by dates; WRAP: Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK 2022; WRAP: Food date labelling; retained Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex X.