Most people miss the "real" meaning of "best before" and "use by", the article has a link to an official uk.gov page: https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/be

Most people miss the "real" meaning of "best before" and "use by", the article has a link to an official uk.gov page: https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-by-dates https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-b... but long before that, some "common sense" (increasingly less common IMHO) should be used, I know a lot of people that consider these dates (both "best before" and "use by") as if each piece of food had an inbuilt timer similar to the bombs you see in movies.