One of the most familiar sights to British shoppers is set for a major overhaul. The Government has indicated that there is to be a shake up in ‘best before’ labelling. Although they have been around for years, there is still a lot so confusion between what they actually mean.
A “best before” date indicates when a food should be eaten by for optimum enjoyment. They are perfectly fine to eat after this date, but their texture and flavour many have started to diminish. The only exception to this rule is Eggs. On fresh foods however you will see a ‘use by’ date. This is because certain foods go off very quickly, such as meat, and eating these after the ‘use by’ date presents certain health risks.
Anti-waste campaigners have long argued that putting ‘best before’ dates on everything encourages people to throw food out if it has passed the date. The retail industry obviously disagrees, and says it helps the consumer and encourages them to rotate their cupboards. ‘Use by’ is obviously completely different, as eating out of date meats, soft cheese or dairy products can be risky health wise.
When you see food products labelled with ‘sell by’ and ‘display until’ dates they are for the retailers only, who face hefty fines if found to be selling food after these dates. The Foods Standards Agency admits that there is much misinterpretation of the labelling. Fresh food in particular may go off before its ‘use by’ date if it isn’t stored correctly.
Many foods that are meant to be kept refrigerated at all times are often left out on benches etc and allowed to warm up. They are then returned to the fridge and the contrasts in temperature cause the food to deteriorate much quicker, so they may become unsafe to eat before their ‘use by’ date.
Food labels in the UK will now distinguish foods that are produced from Palestine and foods that are produced from Israeli settlements.