Best Before vs. Use By: What Food Date Labels Really Mean

One of these dates is a safety line you shouldn't cross. The other is closer to a quality suggestion — and misreading it as a safety line is one of the biggest causes of avoidable food waste.

The one-sentence answer

“Use by” is about safety: don't eat food after it. “Best before” is about quality: the food is usually still safe after it, but may slowly lose flavor or texture.

Use by — the safety date

You'll find “use by” on foods that spoil in ways you can't always see or smell: fresh meat and fish, ready-to-eat salads, soft cheeses, fresh pasta, and similar perishables. After this date, harmful bacteria may have grown to unsafe levels even if the food looks and smells normal — the “sniff test” is not reliable here. The rules of thumb:

Don't eat, cook, or freeze food after its use-by date.
You can freeze it before the date and extend its life — cook from frozen or use immediately after thawing.
“Use within X days of opening” on the label can end the clock earlier than the printed date.

Best before — the quality date

“Best before” (or “best by / best if used by”) appears on foods that keep well: pasta, rice, canned goods, chocolate, frozen food, oils, biscuits. After the date, quality gradually declines — stale biscuits, dull chocolate bloom — but the food is typically still safe if it was stored properly and the packaging is intact. Check appearance, smell, and taste, then decide.

Cheat sheet

	Use by	Best before
Means	Safe until this date	Best quality until this date
Found on	Meat, fish, ready meals, fresh dairy	Dry, canned, frozen, long-life foods
After the date	Don't eat it	Usually fine — judge by senses
Freezing	Only before the date	Fine, extends quality window

So how long after “best before” is food OK?

There's no legal answer, but as a practical guide: the drier and better-sealed the food, the more forgiving it is. Unopened cans, dried pasta, and rice are often good for months past the date; anything moist, fatty, or opened is much less forgiving. If a “use by” item is in question, the answer is always no.

The real problem: nobody remembers either date

Knowing the theory doesn't help when the yogurt's date passed unseen last Tuesday. The practical fix is being told before either kind of date arrives — then “is it still OK?” mostly stops being a question. RiScan reads the printed date with your iPhone camera (any of 70+ formats — see how to read date codes), attaches it to a photo of the product, and notifies you in time to use it.

Stop guessing at the fridge door. Scan the date once — RiScan reminds you before it matters. Free for iPhone and iPad.