Most short-dated food is still perfectly good to eat well after its best before date — often days, sometimes months or even years, depending on what it is and how it's been stored. Best before dates are about peak quality, not safety, so a slightly late tin of soup or packet of biscuits isn't automatically bin-worthy. Below is a category-by-category guide to roughly how long you can expect different everyday foods to stay good after their best before date, plus how to check for yourself before you tuck in.
Quick answer: best before is a quality date, not a safety cut-off
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is clear that best before dates relate to quality — flavour, texture, colour, aroma — rather than food safety. As long as a product has been stored correctly and the packaging is undamaged, the FSA's guidance is that food eaten after its best before date is generally still safe, even if it's not quite at its best. That's a very different rule to a use-by date, which we cover in full in our guide to best before vs use by dates.
This is also the reasoning behind why we only ever sell stock carrying a best before date, never use-by. If you'd like the full breakdown of what "safe to eat" actually means in practice, we covered that in detail in is it safe to eat food past its best before date?
How long after best before is food still good? Comparison table
These are typical ranges for unopened, properly stored products. Always use your own judgement and the checks further down the page — this table is a starting point, not a guarantee.
| Food category | Typical time still good after best before | What shortens this | Signs to check before eating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dried pasta | 1–2 years | Damp storage, damaged packaging, pests | No damp smell, no discolouration, no insects |
| Rice (white, dried) | 1–2 years | Moisture, warm storage | Dry, free-flowing grains, no musty smell |
| Tinned vegetables & pulses | 1–5 years | Dented, bulging or rusted tins | Tin intact and not swollen; contents smell normal on opening |
| Tinned tomatoes & sauces | 1–3 years | Acidity can slowly affect the tin lining over long periods | No metallic taste, no rust on the seam, normal colour |
| Biscuits & crackers | 2–6 months | Air exposure once opened, humidity | Crisp texture, no soft or stale taste, no odd smell |
| Chocolate & confectionery | 6 months – 2 years | Warm storage causes "bloom" (a whitish surface film) | Bloom is cosmetic and safe; check for rancid or waxy smell instead |
| Crisps & savoury snacks | 1–3 months | Air exposure, oils turning rancid | No stale or "off" oily smell, still reasonably crisp |
| Soft drinks & fizzy drinks | 3–9 months | Loss of carbonation, flavour fade | Cap still sealed, drink still fizzes when opened, normal taste |
Notice the pattern: dry, sealed, low-moisture foods (pasta, rice, tins) hold up the longest, while anything with fat, oil or carbonation (crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks) has a shorter realistic window because those are the first things to fade in flavour.
Why the same "best before" date doesn't mean the same thing for every food
Best before dates are set conservatively by manufacturers, based on when a product is at its absolute peak — not the point it becomes unpleasant or risky. A dry, shelf-stable food like rice has very little for bacteria to grow on, so it can comfortably outlast its date by a long way. A crisp packet, on the other hand, is really a countdown on oil oxidation rather than safety — the crisps won't harm you, they'll just taste stale sooner.
Three things determine how far past best before a food will still be good:
- Moisture content — drier foods last longer past their date
- Packaging integrity — an unopened, undamaged pack always outperforms an opened one
- Storage conditions — a cool, dry cupboard extends shelf life; heat, damp and sunlight shorten it
How to check if food is still good, category by category
Whatever the date on the pack says, a quick check takes seconds and tells you far more than the label alone:
- Look — any mould, discolouration, rust on a tin, or swelling/bulging packaging?
- Smell — does it smell how it should, or musty, sour, rancid or "off"?
- Feel/texture — are biscuits still crisp, is rice still free-flowing, is a tin lid still firm when pressed?
- Taste a small amount — for dry goods and confectionery, a small taste test is the final check once the above are fine.
If a tin is bulging, leaking or badly rusted, don't risk it — bin it. That's the exception rather than the rule, but it's worth knowing.
The food waste angle: why "best before" doesn't mean "bin now"
UK households throw away millions of tonnes of good food every year, and a large share of it is edible when it's binned — much of it simply because a best before date has passed, not because anything is actually wrong with it. Every tin, packet or bottle that gets eaten instead of discarded because someone understood the difference between best before and use by is a small win for both household budgets and the environment.
That's the entire reason short-dated and recently post-dated best-before stock exists as a category: perfectly good food that would otherwise be wasted, sold on at a lower price instead of going to landfill. Buying it isn't a compromise — it's making use of food that's already been through all the resources it took to grow, produce, package and transport, rather than letting that effort go to waste.
FAQs: how long after best before is food still good?
Is it safe to eat food after the best before date?
Yes, generally. The FSA's guidance is that best before dates are about quality rather than safety, so food is usually still fine to eat after this date if it's been stored correctly and shows no signs of spoilage.
How long can you eat food after the best before date?
It depends on the food. Dry, sealed goods like pasta, rice and tins can often be good for months or years past their date, while oilier or more perishable items like crisps and biscuits have a shorter realistic window of a few months.
Do tinned foods go off after the best before date?
Rarely, if the tin is undamaged. An intact, unswollen tin can commonly be safe for one to several years past its best before date. Discard any tin that's bulging, leaking, or heavily rusted.
Can you eat chocolate past its best before date?
Yes. Chocolate is one of the longest-lasting best-before foods. A pale, whitish "bloom" on the surface is a cosmetic fat or sugar change, not a safety issue — it will still be safe, just possibly less glossy.
Is it OK to drink fizzy drinks past their best before date?
Yes, if the bottle or can is sealed. The main change is a gradual loss of fizz and freshness over several months, rather than any safety risk.
What's the difference between a best before date and a use-by date?
Best before is about quality; use-by is about safety. We only ever sell food carrying a best before date, never a use-by date — see our full best before vs use by guide for the complete breakdown.
How can I tell if food past its best before date has actually gone off?
Check, then decide. Look for mould or discolouration, smell for anything musty or sour, check the texture, and for tins, check the tin itself isn't bulging or leaking. If all of that is fine, it's very likely still good.
Why does Low Price Foods sell short-dated best before stock?
To stop good food going to waste. Food that's approaching or just past its best before date is still perfectly good in the vast majority of cases, so instead of it being thrown away, we sell it on at a lower price — better for your budget, and better for the planet.