Best-before vs use-by dates: what's the difference?

Two different questions hide behind the dates printed on food: “is this still safe?” and “is this still good?” Confusing them wastes food in both directions — safe food binned early because a quality date looked like a deadline, and risky food kept too long because a safety date got the benefit of the doubt. New Zealand’s labelling rules split the two cleanly.

What does a use-by date mean?

A use-by date marks food safety. Food can become unsafe before it looks, smells or tastes wrong, so a use-by date is the manufacturer’s tested line: eat the food by the printed day or discard the food after it. New Zealand law backs the line — selling food past a use-by date is illegal, and New Zealand Food Safety asks shoppers to report stores that do.

What does a best-before date mean?

A best-before date marks quality, not safety. Correctly stored food with a best-before date generally stays safe to eat after the date passes — texture, colour or flavour may decline first. New Zealand rules allow stores to sell food past a best-before date, provided the food remains fit to eat, which is why discounted short-dated shelves are legal (Food Standards Australia New Zealand).

Why does bread carry a baked-on date instead?

Bread with a shelf life under seven days plays by a special rule: Food Standards code 1.2.5 lets bakers print a baked-on or baked-for date in place of a best-before date. A baked-for date can sit at most 12 hours after the loaf actually came out of the oven, so either form tells the same story — freshness, counted in days, judged by you.

Is food safe to eat after its best-before date?

Often, yes — provided storage was right and the food still looks and smells as expected. Quality dates reward judgement: cereal goes stale rather than dangerous, chocolate blooms white rather than harmful. The judgement rule never transfers to use-by dates, though. A use-by date is a safety boundary, and food past one belongs in the bin, however normal the food seems.

How does Marsonya tell the dates apart?

Marsonya’s expiry scanner reads the printed date with the phone camera and records which kind of date it read — use-by, best-before or baked-on each get their own badge, because the right response differs. Reminders inherit the distinction: a use-by item can trigger an urgent same-day alert, while a best-before item gets a gentler nudge. Both the scanner and the reminders are shipped features today.

Date labels are one lever in a bigger system: the pillar guide to reducing food waste at home covers the habits around them, and the food storage guide tables how long common foods actually keep once opened.