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A best before date is literally a manufacturer recommendation about the time for which the quality of their product is practically as good as new. Absent specif

A best before date is literally a manufacturer recommendation about the time for which the quality of their product is practically as good as new. Absent specific information to the contrary, I typically trust the manufacturer's recommendation; they are certainly able to make a better informed guess than I am. Thus, I consider each of a product which I expect to use by the best by date equivalent to one another, and I don't prefer a newer one just because it's newer.

throwaway290 2y ago
Manufacturer's recommendation is based on what they can be sued for not things like bad taste and such which personally matter. Also storage conditions are not always followed when moving or storing the product. Between two products with different best before dates I would just go and get a product that listed actual manufacturing date :)
- bobthepanda 2y ago
  I mean the later manufactured product can also be stored improperly so don’t you wind up in the same situation?
  - ScoobleDoodle 2y ago
    No. Absent additional information, the fresher is more likely to better with less opportunity and duration to be improperly stored.
  - throwaway290 2y ago
    Improper storage affects longevity. To estimate longevity at a suspect store you need to know actual manufacturing date not manufacturer's arbitrary best before. But it doesn't even have to be stored improperly. If you see that this loaf is made two days ago, you will go and find a better place with fresher bread with fewer preservatives or whatever. Manufacturers and sellers obviously don't like it though. So they present you a choice between best before 1 or 2 days from now. Good eh? If you see two loaves with 1 day best-before difference, you'll go for the one with lower date and calmly go home eat your stale bread. Or you learn to simply ignore the best before and buy bread where you know manufacturing date. Of course if you are in a third world country likely no one audits factories for compliance and the manufacturing date is also pulled out of someone's ass.
bmacho 2y ago
> Absent specific information to the contrary, I typically trust the manufacturer's recommendation; they are certainly able to make a better informed guess than I am. This works the other way too: if you have information about the aging of the product because you tried it out one time, then you can pretty much just ignore what the manufacturer says.
- vasco 2y ago
  Terrible advice, production method or ingredients might change, you might be wrong, your one sample may be poorly measured. Read the label.
  - ThunderSizzle 2y ago
    The label can also be wrong. Just because someone stamped a product with something doesn't make it a fact. It's just the manufacturer's opinion on the matter, and their opinion may be or may not be credible like every other source of information. Just because they appear authority-like does not make their opinion more valid.

throwaway290 2y ago

Manufacturer's recommendation is based on what they can be sued for not things like bad taste and such which personally matter. Also storage conditions are not always followed when moving or storing the product. Between two products with different best before dates I would just go and get a product that listed actual manufacturing date :)

bobthepanda 2y ago
I mean the later manufactured product can also be stored improperly so don’t you wind up in the same situation?
- ScoobleDoodle 2y ago
  No. Absent additional information, the fresher is more likely to better with less opportunity and duration to be improperly stored.
- throwaway290 2y ago
  Improper storage affects longevity. To estimate longevity at a suspect store you need to know actual manufacturing date not manufacturer's arbitrary best before. But it doesn't even have to be stored improperly. If you see that this loaf is made two days ago, you will go and find a better place with fresher bread with fewer preservatives or whatever. Manufacturers and sellers obviously don't like it though. So they present you a choice between best before 1 or 2 days from now. Good eh? If you see two loaves with 1 day best-before difference, you'll go for the one with lower date and calmly go home eat your stale bread. Or you learn to simply ignore the best before and buy bread where you know manufacturing date. Of course if you are in a third world country likely no one audits factories for compliance and the manufacturing date is also pulled out of someone's ass.

bmacho 2y ago

> Absent specific information to the contrary, I typically trust the manufacturer's recommendation; they are certainly able to make a better informed guess than I am. This works the other way too: if you have information about the aging of the product because you tried it out one time, then you can pretty much just ignore what the manufacturer says.

vasco 2y ago
Terrible advice, production method or ingredients might change, you might be wrong, your one sample may be poorly measured. Read the label.
- ThunderSizzle 2y ago
  The label can also be wrong. Just because someone stamped a product with something doesn't make it a fact. It's just the manufacturer's opinion on the matter, and their opinion may be or may not be credible like every other source of information. Just because they appear authority-like does not make their opinion more valid.