Demystifying Food Labels: Expiry Date, Packing Date, and Use By Date Explained

How do we actually tell when to throw out food or keep it?

There are different types of dates that are printed in the packaging such as:

• Use by Date

• Expiry Date

• Best Before Date

• Packing Date

Use by Date

Foods should not be eaten after the use by date. It can't be legally sold after this date as they may pose a health or safety risk.

Expiry Date

There are certain food products that has to have expiry dates on their labels. They include:

• Perishables or products with short shelf-life such as pasteurised milk, dairy products, and chilled food products

• Products with quality that may deteriorate over time such as cooking oils, juice drinks, tofu

• Products susceptible to contamination when we store them too long such as breakfast cereals, flour (they can be infested with insects)

• Infant food

Food can go bad even before the expiry date if it is not stored properly. Do read the storage instructions such as refrigerate after opening, consume within 3 days of opening.

It is against the law to sell food past its expiry date so please look at the dates before purchasing.

Best Before

You can still eat foods for a while after the best before date as they should be safe. However, they may have lost some quality.

Packing Date

Packing date on the labels for fresh and chilled raw meat and fish is NOT an expiry date. When it passed the packing date, you would need to examine their freshness at the store. You can do that by looking for any bad smells, unusual colours, ensuring that meat or fish remains good for consumption.

Check the date on packaging to reduce food waste and support sustainability.