{"id":1038,"date":"2022-10-26T11:59:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T11:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andyh53.sg-host.com\/?p=532"},"modified":"2025-08-08T10:14:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T10:14:50","slug":"use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"Use-by dates and Best Before dates"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is the difference between a Use-by date and a Best Before date?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In simple terms, a use by date tells you whether a food should be safe to eat, while a best before date tells you about a food\u2019s quality.<\/p>\n

Use by dates<\/strong>\u00a0appear on foods that are most likely to perish quickly, and cause a threat to health after a relatively short period. This includes meat, fish, dairy products and prepared salads and meals. Harmful bacteria can exist on these foods and multiply over time, so it is vital to follow food safety<\/a> rules when using these foods.<\/p>\n

Waste prevention tip \u2013 foods can be frozen up to and on their use by dates, as long as they\u2019ve been stored safely up to that point. You\u2019ll need to cook and eat it within 24 hours when you defrost it.<\/p>\n

Best before<\/strong>\u00a0dates tell you about the quality of a food \u2013 after this date, the food may not be harmful to eat, but the flavour or texture might be affected. Best before dates are often used on frozen, tinned and packet foods.<\/p>\n

Waste prevention tip \u2013 Have a regular check of your food cupboard and make sure you keep foods with shortest best before dates at the front so you don\u2019t forget about them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To review this and other important food safety important, visit The Safer Food Group and check out our\u00a0Level 2 Food Hygiene course<\/a> \u2013 vital for all food handlers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the difference between a Use-by date and a Best Before date? In simple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[208],"tags":[207],"class_list":["post-1038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sectors","tag-catering-and-hospitality"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUse-by dates and Best Before dates - The Safer Food Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Use-by dates and Best Before dates - The Safer Food Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is the difference between a Use-by date and a Best Before date? In simple […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Knowledge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheSaferFoodGroup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-26T11:59:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-08T10:14:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"528\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alison Thorne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SaferFoodGroup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SaferFoodGroup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alison Thorne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alison Thorne\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/person\/73e22cd33c608ff1834ffd62f7a36c42\"},\"headline\":\"Use-by dates and Best Before dates\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-26T11:59:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-08T10:14:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/\"},\"wordCount\":249,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Catering and hospitality\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sectors\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/\",\"name\":\"Use-by dates and Best Before dates - The Safer Food Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-26T11:59:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-08T10:14:50+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg\",\"width\":801,\"height\":528,\"caption\":\"Two jars of honey\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Use-by dates and Best Before dates\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/\",\"name\":\"Knowledge\",\"description\":\"From The Safer Food Group\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Knowledge\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SFG-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SFG-logo.svg\",\"width\":101,\"height\":37,\"caption\":\"Knowledge\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheSaferFoodGroup\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/SaferFoodGroup\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2556420\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thesaferfoodgroup\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCpwpLKCoN01DZo7FQ6O7aKg\/featured\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/person\/73e22cd33c608ff1834ffd62f7a36c42\",\"name\":\"Alison Thorne\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0dd147b04c2fb23dd143c8ece9ebedf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0dd147b04c2fb23dd143c8ece9ebedf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alison Thorne\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Use-by dates and Best Before dates - The Safer Food Group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Use-by dates and Best Before dates - The Safer Food Group","og_description":"What is the difference between a Use-by date and a Best Before date? In simple […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/","og_site_name":"Knowledge","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheSaferFoodGroup","article_published_time":"2022-10-26T11:59:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-08T10:14:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":801,"height":528,"url":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alison Thorne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SaferFoodGroup","twitter_site":"@SaferFoodGroup","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alison Thorne","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/"},"author":{"name":"Alison Thorne","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/person\/73e22cd33c608ff1834ffd62f7a36c42"},"headline":"Use-by dates and Best Before dates","datePublished":"2022-10-26T11:59:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-08T10:14:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/"},"wordCount":249,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg","keywords":["Catering and hospitality"],"articleSection":["Sectors"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/","name":"Use-by dates and Best Before dates - The Safer Food Group","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-10-26T11:59:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-08T10:14:50+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/use-by-dates-1.jpg","width":801,"height":528,"caption":"Two jars of honey"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/use-by-dates-and-best-before-dates\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Use-by dates and Best Before dates"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/","name":"Knowledge","description":"From The Safer Food Group","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#organization","name":"Knowledge","url":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SFG-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SFG-logo.svg","width":101,"height":37,"caption":"Knowledge"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheSaferFoodGroup","https:\/\/x.com\/SaferFoodGroup","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2556420","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thesaferfoodgroup\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCpwpLKCoN01DZo7FQ6O7aKg\/featured"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/person\/73e22cd33c608ff1834ffd62f7a36c42","name":"Alison Thorne","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0dd147b04c2fb23dd143c8ece9ebedf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0dd147b04c2fb23dd143c8ece9ebedf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alison Thorne"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1038"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1700,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038\/revisions\/1700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesaferfoodgroup.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}