Use-By vs Best-Before Dates: Meaning & the Law

Which Foods Need a Use-By Date?

Key takeaway: Use-by dates are required for microbiologically highly perishable foods that may quickly become dangerous.

A food business operator should use a use-by date where deterioration could allow harmful microorganisms to reach unsafe levels within the product’s intended shelf life.

Factors commonly considered include:

• Whether the food supports the growth of pathogenic microorganisms.

• Whether cooking, pasteurisation or another process controls relevant hazards.

• Whether contamination could occur after processing and before packaging.

• The product’s acidity, water activity and preservative system.

• Whether packaging limits or supports microbial growth.

• The intended storage temperature and foreseeable temperature variation.

• Whether the food will be eaten without a further kill step.

• The needs of vulnerable consumer groups.

The European Food Safety Authority has developed a decision-tree approach to help operators decide between a use-by and best-before date. EFSA also stresses that shelf life should be determined case by case, using evidence relevant to the actual product and its reasonably foreseeable storage conditions.

Understand when a designated food safety supervisor may be required, their key responsibilities, and the legal duties businesses must follow.

Do not rely on appearance or smell after a use-by date

Food carrying a use-by date may contain unsafe levels of harmful bacteria without obvious changes in smell, taste or appearance. A sensory check is therefore not a suitable basis for extending or overriding the date.

For businesses, changing an established use-by period should be treated as a technical shelf-life decision. It may require microbiological assessment, historical data, challenge testing, durability studies or specialist advice, depending on the product and hazard.

Which Foods Need a Best-Before Date?

Key takeaway: Best-before dates generally apply where quality is expected to decline before the food becomes unsafe.

Best-before dates are commonly used for shelf-stable, dried, canned, frozen or otherwise relatively stable foods. The date tells consumers how long the unopened product should retain its intended quality when stored as instructed.

After the date, a correctly stored product may remain suitable for consumption, but businesses and consumers should consider:

1. Whether the packaging remains intact.

2. Whether the product was stored according to its instructions.

3. Whether there are signs of mould, pest damage, leakage or swelling.

4. Whether its appearance, smell or texture is abnormal.

5. Whether product-specific or national guidance advises otherwise.

For appropriate best-before foods, sensory assessment can help identify quality deterioration. That approach must not be transferred to use-by foods.

Annex X of Regulation 1169/2011 also provides exemptions from date-of-minimum-durability marking for certain product categories. Operators should confirm the exact legal exemption and check whether product-specific or national rules add requirements before omitting a date.

How Must Food Dates Be Displayed Correctly?

Key takeaway: The wording, date format, location reference and storage instructions must comply with Annex X.

For a best-before date, Annex X uses:

• “Best before …” where the date includes the day.

• “Best before end …” in other cases.

The wording must be followed by the date itself or by a clear reference to where the date appears on the packaging.

The permitted level of precision depends on the product’s durability:

A use-by date must use the words “use by …”, followed by the date or a clear reference to its location. The date is expressed in day, month and, where appropriate, year order. Relevant storage conditions must accompany the date information, because the date is valid only when the stated conditions are followed.

Practical legibility checks

Before approving artwork, confirm that the date:

• Is easy to find without opening the package.

• Is permanent and remains readable throughout distribution.

• Is not obscured by seals, folds, overprinting or promotional labels.

• Uses sufficient contrast against the background.

• Matches any reference such as “see lid” or “see base”.

• Cannot reasonably be confused with a batch number or production code.

• Appears on each relevant individually prepacked portion where required.

A European Commission study found poor date-mark legibility on 11% of sampled products, showing that technically present information can still fail in practice if consumers cannot read it easily.

How Do Freezing and Date Labels Work Together?

Key takeaway: Freezing may preserve food, but it does not authorise an unsupported extension of a commercial shelf life.

Consumers may freeze suitable food before its use-by date when the manufacturer’s instructions allow it. The food should be frozen while still safe, labelled clearly and thawed according to the product instructions or reliable food-safety guidance.

For food businesses, the controls must be more formal. Freezing a product near the end of its use-by period does not automatically create a new validated shelf life. The operator should establish:

• Whether freezing is suitable for the product.

• The latest safe point at which freezing may occur.

• The freezing and storage temperature.

• A traceable frozen-on date where applicable.

• The permitted frozen-storage period.

• The thawing method and temperature.

• The post-thaw shelf life.

• Whether relabelling is legally and technically justified.

Regulation 1169/2011 also requires a date of freezing or first freezing for specified frozen products, including certain frozen meats, meat preparations and unprocessed fishery products. This is a separate requirement from the use-by or best-before decision.

How Can Correct Date Marking Reduce Food Waste?

Key takeaway: Accurate date selection protects consumers while preventing safe food from being discarded unnecessarily.

Using a use-by date without a sound safety rationale can cause edible food to be discarded as though it were dangerous. Conversely, using a best-before date where a genuine short-term microbiological risk exists can put consumers at risk.

The European Commission estimates that up to 10% of food waste generated annually in the EU may be linked to date marking. Its research also indicates continuing low consumer understanding of use-by and best-before labels across Member States.

Food businesses can improve date marking by:

1. Assigning responsibility for shelf-life approval.

2. Documenting why each product uses a particular date mark.

3. Validating safety and quality shelf life separately.

4. Setting realistic storage and open-life instructions.

5. Checking whether packaging changes affect product stability.

6. Reviewing complaints, returns and test results.

7. Training marketing, technical, production and packaging teams.

8. Preventing unnecessary shortening of shelf life for commercial convenience.

9. Making the printed date prominent and unambiguous.

10. Reviewing dates whenever ingredients, suppliers, processes or packaging change.

A recurring operational weakness is that the date is copied from an earlier product or supplier specification without confirming whether the new formulation, packaging or production environment supports the same shelf life. A documented approval process helps prevent this.

Country variations

The principal use-by and best-before rules are harmonised through Regulation 1169/2011 across the European Union. However, competent authorities, enforcement procedures, language requirements, food-donation arrangements, retail practices and sector guidance can vary between Member States.

Businesses operating in Spain or several EU countries should therefore confirm national requirements with the relevant competent authority rather than assuming that every operational detail is identical.

What Should a Pre-Print Date-Mark Review Include?

Key takeaway: Every label should pass a documented technical, legal and artwork check before printing.

Use this practical review:

• The correct date type has been selected using safety and quality evidence.

• The shelf life is validated for the actual formulation and process.

• Packaging and storage conditions match the validation.

• The correct “use by”, “best before” or “best before end” wording is used.

• The date contains the legally appropriate day, month and year elements.

• Any “see lid”, “see base” or similar reference is accurate.

• Required storage conditions appear near or clearly relate to the date.

• Open-life or thawing instructions are included where necessary.

• The date is legible on the final production artwork.

• Batch codes cannot be mistaken for the consumer date.

• Translation and Member State requirements have been checked.

• Technical approval is recorded before artwork release.

Apply Food Dates Correctly

Key takeaway: Effective training helps label teams connect legal wording with shelf-life evidence and operational controls.

The aim is not to provide a shortcut to compliance. It is to help product development, quality, packaging, marketing and management teams make better-informed labelling decisions and identify when specialist technical or legal advice is required.

Professional limitation: This article provides general EU compliance guidance and is not legal, microbiological or product-specific shelf-life advice. National rules and sector-specific requirements may add obligations.

Sources and Methodology

Key takeaway: This article is based on binding EU legislation, official guidance and current authoritative food-safety information.

The article was prepared using the target search intent, official EU legislation, European Commission materials, European Food Safety Authority guidance and established professional practice for label approval and shelf-life control.

Principal sources consulted:

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, particularly Article 24 and Annex X.

• European Commission guidance on date marking and food-waste prevention.

• European Food Safety Authority guidance on food date labelling.

• EFSA’s date-marking decision-tree information for food business operators.

• European Commission mandatory food-information overview.