Open most fridges and cupboards and you will find a small graveyard of food thrown out "just in case" — yoghurts binned the morning of their date, tins lobbed out because the label said a year ago, bread sacrificed to a number nobody quite understood. Behind almost all of it is one avoidable muddle: people treat best before and use by as the same thing. They are not. One is about whether food is safe to eat. The other is only about whether it tastes its best. Knowing which is which will save you money and stop you throwing away perfectly good food.
This article is general information about food safety, not medical advice. If you feel unwell after eating something, seek advice from a pharmacist, NHS 111 or your GP.
What the two dates mean
A use by date is a safety date. It is printed on perishable, higher-risk foods — fresh meat and poultry, fish, dairy, ready meals, prepared salads — where harmful bacteria can multiply to dangerous levels over time. After the use-by date, the food may be unsafe even if it looks and smells completely normal. This is the date that matters most.
A best before date is a quality date. It tells you how long the food will be at its best for flavour, texture and appearance. It appears on lower-risk, longer-life foods such as tinned goods, dried pasta and rice, biscuits, crisps and frozen food. After a best-before date, the food is usually still perfectly safe to eat; it may simply be a little staler, softer or less vivid than it was.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) puts it simply: use by is about safety, best before is about quality. Hold on to that one sentence and you have understood ninety per cent of the issue.
Why people confuse them — and why it costs money
The two phrases look almost identical on a label, sit in the same spot, and use the same date format, so it is no surprise they get lumped together. The result is that millions of households throw away food the moment any date passes, regardless of which date it is.
That waste adds up. UK households bin a large amount of food every year that was still good to eat, and misread dates are one of the biggest culprits. Every wasted item is money tipped into the bin — which is why understanding dates is as much a budgeting habit as a kitchen one. Our guide to meal planning on a budget shows how planning around the food you already have keeps both waste and spending down.
Treating a best-before date like a use-by date is one of the most expensive small mistakes in the average kitchen.
When to trust your senses — and when not to
For best before foods, your senses are a reasonable guide. Crisps that have gone soft, biscuits that have lost their snap, or a sauce that smells off can be judged on the spot. If a tin is intact and a packet of rice looks and smells fine well past its best-before date, it almost certainly is.
For use by foods, your senses are not reliable. This is the crucial point. The bacteria that cause food poisoning — such as Listeria or certain strains of E. coli — often do not change how food looks, smells or tastes. Chicken can be teeming with harmful bacteria and still seem perfectly fresh. That is exactly why the use-by date exists: it is a limit you cannot see for yourself.
So the rule is straightforward:
- Best before: look, smell, use judgement.
- Use by: trust the date, not your nose.
Storage instructions matter just as much
A date is only valid if the food has been stored the way the label says. "Use by" and "best before" both assume correct storage, so the small print is part of the safety information, not an afterthought.
- Keep your fridge cold enough. Aim for 0–5C. A fridge running too warm shortens the safe life of everything inside it, date or no date.
- Read the "once opened" line. Many products are safe until their use-by date unopened, but must be eaten within a few days once opened — for example "use within 3 days of opening." That shorter window can override the printed date.
- Follow cooking and reheating notes. "Cook from frozen" or "reheat until piping hot" are part of keeping the food safe.
If you want the food to last to its date, good storage is non-negotiable. Our guide to how to store food properly covers fridge temperatures, sealing and the order things should go in.
The freezer is your pause button
One of the most useful facts about dates is that the freezer effectively stops the use-by clock. You can freeze most foods right up to the use-by date and eat them later, which turns a "use it tonight or bin it" panic into a relaxed choice.
A few sensible rules:
- Freeze in good time. Freeze on or before the use-by date, ideally as soon as you know you will not eat it in time — not at the last possible minute.
- Defrost safely. Thaw in the fridge, not on the worktop, and once defrosted eat the food within 24 hours.
- Do not refreeze raw food. You can refreeze food once it has been cooked, but not raw food that has been thawed.
This single habit prevents a huge amount of waste. Batch cooking leans on exactly the same principle — cook now, freeze portions, eat later — as explained in what is batch cooking.
A quick reference
| Feature | Use by | Best before |
|---|---|---|
| About | Safety | Quality |
| Typical foods | Meat, fish, dairy, ready meals | Tins, dried goods, biscuits, frozen food |
| After the date | Do not eat | Usually still safe |
| Trust your senses? | No | Yes |
| Can you freeze to extend it? | Yes, freeze by the date | Less relevant; long shelf life anyway |
Two more labels worth knowing
You may also see "display until" or "sell by" dates. These are instructions for shop staff about stock rotation, not for you. Ignore them and read the use-by or best-before date instead.
And a word on eggs: in the UK eggs carry a best-before date, and are usually fine to eat a little beyond it if cooked thoroughly, though older eggs are best avoided for runny or raw preparations. When in doubt, the float test — a very old egg floats in water — is a rough guide, but the date and proper storage are more reliable.
The bottom line
The difference between best before and use by is the difference between quality and safety. Never eat food after its use-by date, however fine it seems, and freeze it in good time if you cannot use it. With best-before foods, relax: they are usually safe long after the date, so let your eyes and nose decide. Get this one distinction straight and you will throw away less, spend less, and waste a lot less of the food you have already paid for.