Best Before vs Use By Dates: The Complete UK Guide
The short answer: a use by date is about food safety — eating food after it can make you ill. A best before date is about food quality — the food is still safe to eat after it, but it may have lost some flavour, texture, or colour. That single distinction is the difference between a perfectly good tin of beans and a serious case of food poisoning.
This matters more than ever in 2026. UK food prices have risen by 38.6% between November 2020 and November 2025, and households are looking for every legitimate way to cut their food bills without putting their health at risk. Understanding date labels is one of the simplest, highest-impact ways to do that.
At Low Price Foods, we sell surplus and short-dated stock — much of it near or just past its best before date — so this isn't an abstract topic for us. It's the foundation of how we help people save up to 70% on their food shop. Here's the complete guide.
What Does "Best Before" Mean?
A best before date is the manufacturer's estimate of when the food will be at its best quality. After that date, the food is still safe to eat, but it may not taste quite as good, look as fresh, or have the same texture.
Think of it as a "best enjoyed by" date rather than an expiry date. It's the food producer saying, "we can guarantee peak quality up to this point — beyond that, you're on your own for flavour, but the food itself is fine."
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is explicit on this: best before dates relate to food quality, not safety. That distinction is what allows surplus food retailers like us to operate legally and safely.
What Does "Use By" Mean?
A use by date is a safety instruction. Food eaten after its use by date — even if it looks, smells, and tastes fine — can make you seriously ill. This is because the kinds of bacteria that cause food poisoning don't always produce visible signs of spoilage.
Use by dates appear on highly perishable foods where microbial growth is the primary risk:
- Fresh meat and poultry
- Fresh fish and seafood
- Soft cheeses and dairy
- Pre-prepared salads and sandwiches
- Ready meals
- Smoked fish
The FSA is unambiguous: never eat food after its use by date, even if it looks and smells fine. Cooking it thoroughly doesn't make it safe either, because some bacteria produce toxins that survive heat.
Best Before vs Use By: Quick Comparison
| Feature | Best Before | Use By |
|---|---|---|
| What it tells you | Quality | Safety |
| Safe to eat after? | Yes, but quality may decline | No — risk of food poisoning |
| Legal basis | Quality indicator | Safety instruction |
| Found on | Tinned, dried, frozen, ambient foods | Meat, dairy, fish, ready meals |
| Smell or taste test? | Useful, not essential | Unreliable — never use it |
| Cooking extends safety? | N/A | No |
| Surplus food shops can sell past? | Yes | No |
How Long After Best Before Is Food Still Good?
This depends on the food. As a general guide:
| Food Type | Typical Safe Window Past Best Before |
|---|---|
| Tinned food | 1–2 years (sometimes longer) |
| Dried pasta and rice | 1–2 years |
| Biscuits and crackers | 6–9 months |
| Chocolate | 6–12 months |
| Cereals | 6–9 months |
| Jams and spreads | 12–18 months (unopened) |
| Frozen food | 3–6 months |
| UHT / long-life drinks | 6–12 months |
These are guides, not guarantees. Always check the food looks, smells, and (if appropriate) tastes normal before eating. If in doubt, throw it out — but for tinned, dried, and ambient foods, the best before date is genuinely conservative.
Can You Eat Food Past Its Best Before Date?
Yes, in the vast majority of cases. Best before dates relate to quality, not safety. For ambient, tinned, dried, and frozen foods, eating past the best before is normal practice and entirely safe — provided the packaging is intact and the food has been stored correctly.
This is the whole premise of the surplus food industry in the UK. Companies like Low Price Foods, Approved Food, and Cheapfood exist to rescue perfectly good food from going to waste simply because it has crossed an arbitrary quality threshold set by the manufacturer.
The Hidden Cost of Confusing Date Labels
UK households throw away around 4.5 million tonnes of edible food every year, and confusion over date labels is a significant driver. WRAP (the waste charity) has repeatedly found that consumers throw away food past its best before date in the mistaken belief that it's unsafe.
That's not just bad for the environment — it's expensive. WRAP estimates the average UK household wastes around £700 worth of food a year. Understanding the difference between best before and use by dates is one of the simplest ways to claw some of that back.
How to Check If Food Past Its Best Before Is Still Good
For ambient foods (tins, packets, jars, frozen):
- Check the packaging. Tins with deep dents, swelling, or rust should be discarded. Punctured packets are out.
- Look at the food. Discolouration that goes beyond what you'd expect from age is a red flag.
- Smell it. Off odours mean bin it. Trust your nose — it's evolved specifically to detect spoiled food.
- Taste a small amount (if appropriate). For most ambient foods, an off taste is rare past best before but not impossible.
- When in doubt, throw it out. This is the one rule that overrides all the others.
Where Surplus Food Fits In
If you've made it this far, you understand something most UK shoppers don't: best before dates are about quality, not safety. That's the entire reason surplus food retailers exist.
At Low Price Foods, we source short-dated and past-best-before stock from manufacturers and major retailers — food that's perfectly good to eat but would otherwise go to landfill. We pass those savings on, with most items 30–70% cheaper than supermarket prices.
It's the same food. It's just past a date that was never about safety in the first place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to eat food past its best before date?
Yes. Best before dates relate to food quality, not safety. Food past its best before is safe to eat provided the packaging is intact and it has been stored correctly. The flavour, texture, or appearance may have declined slightly.
What is the difference between best before and use by dates?
A best before date tells you when food will be at its best quality. A use by date is a safety instruction — food should not be eaten after this date. Best before = quality. Use by = safety.
Can you eat food after the use by date if it smells fine?
No. Smell is not a reliable indicator of safety. The bacteria that cause food poisoning don't always produce a smell, and some produce heat-resistant toxins that survive cooking. Always respect use by dates.
How long after best before can you eat chocolate?
Typically 6–12 months. Chocolate may develop a white "bloom" on the surface as the cocoa fat migrates — this is cosmetic and entirely safe to eat. Dark chocolate keeps even longer.
Can you freeze food to extend its use by date?
Yes. Freezing pauses bacterial growth, so food frozen before its use by date is safe. It must be defrosted thoroughly and cooked through. Freezing does not "reset" the use by clock — once defrosted, treat it as fresh and use within 24 hours.
Are tinned foods safe to eat years after their best before date?
In most cases, yes. Tinned food can remain safe for 1–2 years or more past its best before date, provided the tin is undamaged. The food may lose some flavour or nutritional value over time, but it is safe.
Is it illegal to sell food past its best before date?
No. It is legal to sell food past its best before date in the UK. It is not legal to sell food past its use by date. Surplus food retailers like Low Price Foods operate entirely within the law.
Why does the UK have two different date labels?
To distinguish quality from safety. The best before date protects the consumer's experience of the product. The use by date protects the consumer's health. Conflating the two — either by ignoring use by, or by binning food past best before — is the most common date-label mistake.
This article is for general information and reflects Food Standards Agency guidance as of July 2026. When in doubt about food safety, consult the FSA's official guidance or discard the food.