Most of us are very concerned about checking the shelf life of the packaged foods or other commodities that we pick and we may have not noticed, it’s not just an expiry date but some packages have it mentioned as best before date. We just seem to look at the date, but what many people don’t know is that expiry date and best before date are not the same. In fact, many people use them interchangeably thinking that they mean the same thing. Expiry date and best before date are two different terms meaning different things and serving different purposes.
Expiry Date: It is added to a food package to tell consumers the last day a product is safe to consume. You should never consume food after the expiry date.
Best Before Date: This is the date the manufacturer deems the product reaches peak freshness. The date does not indicate spoilage, nor does it necessarily tells you that the food is no longer safe for consumption.
Best before dates indicates that the quality of a food material can no longer be guaranteed after that date, so this is a Quality indicator. On the other hand, Expiry Date indicates that a food has gone bad and should not be eaten. You put yourself in danger if you eat the food after its expiry date.
Expiry date means that your food has gone spoilt from that date and you should never consume it. It is no longer safe to eat such foods as they would lead to illness and in extreme cases, death. Best Before Date on the other hand tells you that the food is no longer in its perfect shape from that date. It may just lose its freshness, taste aroma or nutrients. It does not necessarily mean that the food is no longer safe to eat.
Best before dates do not relate to the safety of a food product, it is just about quality. This means that we can still eat a food that has passed its best before date; the food would just likely not be in its best quality state. It might have lost some nutrients or changed color. But do check the food item thoroughly before consuming it after the best before dates.
-Dt. JENNIFER DHURI