Understanding Use By and Best Before dates

In the UK every year we waste tons of food that we bury in landfill sites, much of it unnecessarily as many people do not understand the "use by" or "best before" dates on food packaging.

Use by dates are about safety and are put on produce that spoils quickly that can become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria.

We can extend this by freezing this food before the use by date which prevents bacteria growth so the food is still fresh and fine to eat much later than this date.

Best before is about quality, after this date the food may have a different taste, texture or colour but will still be safe to eat.

Last year many people bought extra food during the lockdowns and subsequently threw more away soon after, in many cases such as these canned foods that had not been opened and had not exceeded their best before date this was extremely wasteful.

Polar explorers place food stores along their planned routes in advance of an expedition in order to minimise the weight they have to carry, there have been several examples of canned food being found many years later long after the best before dates that was still perfectly safe to eat.

One of the first preparations or preps you should make it to build up a suitable store of food in your home, understand how to store it and how long it will last.

Only buy what you actually eat, this will allow you to maximise the storage life of your supplies by eating those that are approaching the end of their storage life first.

Take advantage of bulk buy deals on long life foods and prepping will even save you money in the long term on your grocery bills, win-win.

Take care

Roo