Posted by kathryn in Labels & advertising

The final question for this week’s Q & A Thursday is from Paul:

I’m frequently amazed at how long some foods can be kept, at least going by the published ‘best by’ date. A couple of examples recently: roasted kumera in oil (nearly 2 months), haloumi vaccuum packed (3 months unopened). Are you aware of any general concerns about ‘best by’ dates on foods?

While it seems incredible how long some foods can be kept, Paul I’m actually not aware of any problems with expiry dates. Although there have been some changes to the labelling laws you should be aware of.

Food technology is quite a science these days. Manufacturers produce packaged food under strict hygiene conditions and by regulated processes. Food is generally checked at several stages of the production process and expiry dates have to be tested and re-tested (and re-tested). Food recalls are expensive and damaging and manufacturers definitely want to avoid them.

Use-by vs best-before

I should note that, in Australia, the regulations about expiry dates changed in 2003. Prior to that, the “use-by” and “best-before” dates were only a guide to how long the food would retain its quality. Food could legally be sold after its use-by date and usually made up the “red-hot” specials shelf.

Since 2003 the use-by date is now the point at which the food actually becomes unsafe to eat, ie it’s the date the food goes off. So you do need to chuck out those old foods lurking in the back of your pantry. If a product is past it’s use-by date, even if the food looks and smells okay, it’s not safe to eat.

Most other foods have a best-before date, this is a guide to how long a food will keep at its peak quality. After the best-before date it’s still safe to eat, but there will be a decline in quality, taste and texture.

Bread that has a shelf-life of less than seven days often has a “baked-on” or “baked-for” date on the label, instead of a best-before. This gives an indication of how fresh the bread is.

28 June, 2007