Reducing expiration date confusion
Type de pratique Reduce
Nom de la pratique Reducing expiration date confusion
Nom de l’acteur principal UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Type d’acteur(s) Autorités publiques, Société
Pays United Kingdom
Etape de mise en œuvre Consommation, Emballage, Vente au détail
Année de mise en œuvre 2011
Opérations déjà accomplies/en cours The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has recently issued
a revised version of its Guidance on the application of date labels to food (2011)
aimed at clarifying the meaning of each food label.
Résultats et impacts The guidance is meant to give consumers
better understanding of the difference between the several labels and the
consequence of eating a given product after the date displayed on the package, and
to help businesses decide whether to use the “best-before” or the “use-by” date. It
also provides examples of best practices for businesses, explains the meaning of “sellby”
and “display-until” dates, clarifying that there is no legal requirement for their application
and encouraging businesses to explore alternative methods for stock control.
It further specifies that “use-by” labels refer to the safety of the product and are intended
for highly perishable foods, e.g. milk or yogurt, whereas ”best-before” relates
to the peak quality of the product, meaning that the food will still be safe to eat after
that date although some particular characteristics such as taste, texture or appearance
may be altered. The revised guidance does not put any legally binding provisions on
food business operators, or amend the national or regional legislation. The legally binding
provisions are found in the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and the Directive
2000/13/EC (DEFRA (a), 2011).