Important Note. This article is intended to highlight that there may be foods that could be safely consumed after the “best before” or “display by” dates if checked by appearance and smell. This is not a guide for doing so. If you are not confident in making a health and safety decision on food then either seek help or discard it. If in doubt, throw it out.
Packaged foods, whether it is fresh, frozen or processed food, almost always will carry a date on the packaging. Some are printed “best before”, some are “display by” and some are “use by” dates. What do they all mean?
In the UK you can get food safety advice from the Food Standards Agency and they have published a fairly definitive and useful guide. Basically Use By is a food safety issue and you should not consume it past that date. Best Before is a food quality issue and you can often use it after the date if you check the appearance and smell of the food. Display By is not a recommended term (used to be common for retailer use) and instead look for the Use By or Best Before dates (for the consumer).
The guide also gives us some good tips on reducing food waste:
- always follow the storage instructions (a food that requires a cold chain for safety shouldn’t be left out of the refrigerator for long; a food that is packaged in a protective environment may spoil quickly once opened and you may wish to write the date/time of opening on the packet if you leave some for later)
- aim to use up or freeze foods that are getting to their Use By dates (freezing foods will pause the deterioration, but only defrost the amount you need because it can spoil quickly when defrosting)
- go through what you have left before you plan your next shop to use up what you have left and reduce overbuying ingredients (if you like cooking you can make some creative dishes using what you have left)
- plan ahead for your meals (or if you are creative you could mix and match local and seasonal ingredients into your plan as and when they are available)
- make sure your refrigerator is chilling your food to below 5°C (a thermometer may be a useful purchase to help with this and keep the door closed as much as possible). If your refrigerator is struggling to keep cool, check the temperature setting, check if the door seal is damaged (if you are building up a lot of ice on the element then this could be the reason), and check that air can freely circulate to the rear of the refrigerator (don’t put a refrigerator next to a radiator as it makes it harder to keep the contents cool and pushes up your bills).
For more ideas see Love Food Hate Waste.
Do you have any tips to share on reducing food waste?
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