Food Safety

   Shopping Tips

   Use By vs Best Before

   Proper Storage

   Cross Contamination

   Safe Temperatures

   High Risk Foods

   The Vulnerable

   Packed Lunches

   Entertaining

   Eating Outdoors

Use By vs Best Before

• ‘Use by’ dates are used for foods which must be eaten before a certain time for safety reasons - eating them after the use by date is at your own risk.

• ‘Best before’ dates are used for foods which do not present food safety issues, but if eaten after the best 'before date' may have lost nutritional value and quality - foods can be sold after this date provided the food is still fit for human consumption.

• The only food that can have a different date mark on it is bread, which can be labelled with a ‘baked on’ or ‘baked for’ date if its shelf life is less than seven days.

• Foods that have a shelf life of two years or longer, such as canned food, do not need to be labelled with a ‘best before’ date, because it is difficult to give the consumer an accurate guide as to how long these foods will keep - they will generally retain their quality for many years.