FDF Guidance on Date Marking (Use By & Best Before)

20 January 2022

This FDF guidance explains the differences between the two types of date marks: ‘Use by …’ for food safety and ‘Best before …’ for food quality. It also signposts to relevant UK resources on date mark labelling and food waste.

Topics

Download (161 kb)

Related pages

food information

Food labelling and consumer information

Food information to consumers must not mislead and the food label is the primary means of providing essential information to consumers.

shelf life guidance

Guidance

Industry guidance on setting product shelf life

This guidance is designed to help FBOs engaged in the production or sale of any category of food and ingredients to assign the most appropriate expiry date for their product.