Use-By vs Best-Before Date Checker
Best before: A quality date, not a safety one. Food is usually fine to eat past it — it just may lose peak flavour, texture or crunch.
Best before is today. Quality is at its best now — no need to rush.
This is general guidance, not a food-safety ruling. When something seems off, throw it out — it's never worth the risk.
How to read a food date label
- 1Choose which label is printed on the food: best before, use by, or sell by.
- 2Enter the printed date.
- 3Read the plain-English verdict — and remember a quality date is not a safety date.
Date labels cause a lot of good food to be binned
A huge amount of edible food is thrown out simply because people misread the label. Treating a best-before date like a hard deadline means tossing perfectly good pasta, yogurt and bread. Knowing which dates are about safety and which are about quality is one of the easiest ways to waste less.
Wondering how much longer a specific food keeps? The Food Shelf Life Calculator gives typical timelines, and the Leftovers Storage Calculator covers food you've already cooked.
Keep an eye on dates automatically
Rather than squinting at labels in the fridge, let PantryKit hold the dates for you. Add an item, set the printed date (or use the app's estimate), and it'll remind you before the food is due — so you use it in time instead of discovering it too late.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between use-by and best-before?
A use-by date is about safety — don't eat perishable foods after it. A best-before (or 'best if used by') date is about quality — the food is usually still safe afterward, it just may not be at its peak.
Can you eat food after the best-before date?
Very often, yes. Best-before is a quality guide, so many foods — dried goods, canned items, snacks — are fine well past it. Check for off smells, mould or a bad taste, and use your judgement.
What does sell-by mean?
Sell-by is an instruction for the shop, telling them how long to display the item. Food is typically still good for several days at home after the sell-by date if it's been stored properly.
Is this tool a guarantee that food is safe?
No. It's general guidance to help you interpret labels and reduce needless waste. Food safety depends on how something was stored and handled, so always inspect food and, when in doubt, throw it out.
Related tools
Leftovers Storage Calculator
How long do leftovers last? Find out how many days cooked food keeps in the fridge and how long it stays good in the freezer.
Food SafetyFood Shelf Life Calculator
How long does food last? Pick a food and where you store it to see its typical shelf life and an estimated expiry date — pantry, fridge or freezer.
StorageWhere to Store Food
Not sure where a food belongs? See how long it lasts in the pantry, fridge and freezer, and where it keeps longest.
StorageStop throwing away food and money
PantryKit tracks what's in your pantry, fridge and freezer and warns you before it expires - so you waste less and save more, automatically.
Free to start · iPhone · Works fully offline