The Food Standards Agency and Defra have published new guidance to help the food industry decide whether their products require a ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date.
Under the new voluntary guidelines, food packaging should only use either ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date labels to make it easier for shoppers to know when food is at its best and how long it is safe to eat.
The guidance is available to view or download at http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/sep/datelabels