Keepy · Kitchen guides

Best before vs use by: what the dates on food really mean

2026-10-24T00:00:00Z

Throwing away good food is a waste, and eating food that has gone off is a risk. Knowing which date you're looking at helps you avoid both. Here's what the two kinds of date mean, how the rules differ from country to country, and what to do once a date has passed.

Two kinds of date

Most countries base their labels on Codex, the international food standards body. Codex describes two kinds of date:¹

Best before marks the end of the period in which the unopened food stays fully marketable, if it's stored as the label says. Codex adds that after this date the food may still be acceptable to eat.
Use by is the date after which the food shouldn't be sold or eaten, for safety as well as quality reasons.

In short: best before is about quality, use by is about safety.²

How the rules differ by country

Where	What the label says	What it means
Indonesia	"Baik digunakan sebelum" + date	The one legal expiry date: the end of the period the maker guarantees the quality, as long as the food is stored as the pack says.³ There's no separate use-by date.
UK	"Best before" or "Use by"	Best before is quality; use by is safety. Eating food after its use-by date could make you ill.²
EU	"Best before (end)" or "Use by"	After the use-by date, food is deemed unsafe.⁴
US	Usually "Best if Used By"	Dates aren't required by federal law, except on infant formula. The FDA supports "Best if Used By" as the standard wording for quality.⁵
California (food made from 1 July 2026)	"BEST if Used by" or "USE by"	Quality and safety dates with fixed wording; "Sell by" is no longer allowed on packs.⁶

After the best before date

Food past its best-before date isn't automatically bad. Codex notes it may still be acceptable to eat.¹ What usually changes first is quality: crisps go soft, biscuits go stale, flavours fade.

Before you decide, check:

Has it been stored the way the pack says? The date only holds for food stored as instructed.³
Is the pack intact? Undamaged and still sealed, unless you opened it.
Has it been opened? Once opened, follow the pack's "use within … days" advice instead of the date.

If the pack is damaged, has been stored badly, or something seems wrong, don't take the risk.

After the use by date

Don't eat it. In the UK and the EU, the use-by date is a safety limit: food can make you ill after it even if it looks and smells fine.² ⁴ Food Standards Scotland puts it plainly: the "sniff test" isn't a suitable way to tell whether food is safe.⁷

Where "sell by" fits in

A "sell by" date is meant for distributors and shops, to help them rotate stock; it's neither a quality nor a safety date. It's mostly seen on US packs. In California, food made from 1 July 2026 may no longer carry the words "sell by", so shoppers only see quality or safety dates.⁶

Getting started with Keepy

2026-10-24T00:00:00Z

Keepy does one job: it remembers when the food in your kitchen reaches its date, so you can eat it first. This guide takes you from a fresh install to a kitchen Keepy keeps an eye on, in about five minutes.

1. The first minute

The first time you open Keepy, I ask a few short questions: what to call you, who you cook for, how often you shop, and roughly how much food ends up in the bin. Your answers stay on your phone. They help me pick sensible reminder times, and later they let your monthly recap compare your month with how things were before Keepy.

Then you choose the hour for your daily reminder. Pick a moment when you think about food anyway, like just before you plan dinner. You can change it any time in Settings › Reminders & notifications.

2. Add your first food

Tap the green scan button at the bottom right.

Scan the barcode. I look the product up, so you don't type its name.
Point the camera at the date. I read it right on your phone, including small, faded and dot-printed dates. The date never leaves your phone.
Check and save. The name, the date and the place (Fridge, Freezer, Pantry…) are filled in. Change anything that's wrong, then save.

If I don't know the product, you can snap the front of the pack and an AI reads the name, brand and size, but only if you allow it. Or just type the name: typing is always free. A name the AI read is marked "Read by AI · check it" until you save it.

Already took photos of your shopping? Choose From photos on the scan screen and pick the pictures of the packs. I read them on your phone, and the rest of your library stays untouched.

3. Eat what's closest first

Today is your starting point. Under "Use these soon" you see what reaches its date first, with a coloured tag: red for today, amber for soon, green for later.

When you've eaten something, tap ✓ next to it. I count it, and it moves to Finished. If something did go off, mark it as wasted from its page. I'll ask why, which helps me remind you better next time.

4. Find anything in Items

Items lists everything at home, sorted by date. Filter by place, like Fridge, Freezer or Pantry; there are 12 built-in places to start with. Switch to the calendar to see dates by day, or open Finished to see what you've eaten and used up.

5. One reminder a day

Once a day, at your hour, I send a short summary of what's close to its date. Nothing at night: quiet hours are 21:00 to 07:00 unless you change them. On a day when everything is fine, I stay quiet.

6. See your month

At the start of each month, the recap shows what you ate in time, what slipped through, the things you saved on their very last day, and how the month compares with before. Share it as a picture if you're proud of it.

7. Your data, your choice

No account needed. Your kitchen stays on your phone.
Two phones? Sign in with Apple or Google at the top of Settings, and your kitchen syncs. It's free.
Export or delete everything in Settings › Data & privacy.

How to organise your fridge so less food goes to waste

2026-10-24T00:00:00Z

Most food that gets thrown away at home isn't spoiled by bad luck. It's forgotten at the back of the fridge, or kept too warm to last. A cold fridge and a simple routine fix most of it, and they cost nothing.

Why it's worth ten minutes

The fridge is where small habits make the biggest difference. In the UK, WRAP found that food lasts up to three days longer in a fridge kept below 5°C, yet the average home fridge there was set to almost 7°C.¹ Getting the temperature right and seeing what you have are the two things that help most.

1. Get the temperature right

Source	Fridge	Freezer
UK Food Standards Agency	Between 0 and 5°C²
US Food and Drug Administration	40°F (4°C) or below³	0°F (−18°C) or below³
World Health Organization	Preferably below 5°C for cooked and perishable food⁴

Many fridges run warmer than people think.¹ The numbers on the dial usually aren't degrees, so the only way to know is to check with a fridge thermometer.²

2. First in, first out

This is the habit that saves the most food: use the oldest things first.

When you unpack shopping, move what's already in the fridge to the front, and put the new food behind it.
Keep one "eat me first" spot at eye level, a shelf or a small box, for anything that's open or close to its date.
Look before you cook. Start the meal plan from what's in the "eat me first" spot.

3. Give everything a place

A fridge where everything has a fixed place is a fridge where nothing gets lost.

Group similar things together: dairy with dairy, sauces and condiments together, vegetables in the drawer.
Use clear containers for leftovers and cut vegetables, so you can see what's inside without opening them.
Write the date on opened jars and leftovers with a marker or a piece of tape.
Leave some space. A packed fridge hides food at the back, and you can't see what you have.

4. Leftovers and the freezer

Cool leftovers and get them in the fridge within two hours. Then eat them within 48 hours, or freeze them.²
The freezer is a pause button.² Freeze anything you won't eat in time, at the latest by its use-by date.²
Once it has fully defrosted, eat it within 24 hours.²

5. Shop with what's already there

Most waste starts at the shop. Before you go, take a quick look in the fridge, or better, in a list of what you already have, and buy only what you'll eat before it goes off.

How to read the expiry date codes on food packs

2026-10-24T00:00:00Z

A pack can carry three or four different numbers, and only one of them tells you how long the food keeps. This guide shows you how to find it, what the letters around it mean, and how to decode the awkward ones.

Find the date first

The date is usually printed, not part of the label artwork, so look for small dotted or stamped characters:

Cans: on the lid or the bottom.
Cartons and bottles: on the top, the shoulder or the cap.
Sachets and snack bags: along the sealed edge or on the back, near the barcode.

If the date isn't next to its wording, the label usually tells you where to look, such as "Best before: see base of can". Some countries' rules spell this out.⁴

What the letters mean

On the pack	What it means
Best before, BB, Best before end, BBE, Best if used by	A quality date: the food keeps its best quality until then if stored as the pack says.¹ ²
Use by, UB	A safety date for food that goes off quickly. Don't eat it after this date.³
EXP, Exp. date, Expiry	The date the product is good until. Read it like the main date on the pack.
MFG, MFD, PROD, Production date	When the food was made. Not an indication of how long it keeps.¹
PKD, Packed on	When the food was packed. Also not an indication of how long it keeps.¹
LOT, Batch	The batch the food came from, so the maker can trace it. Not a date for you.
Sell by	For shops, to rotate stock. Neither a quality nor a safety date.⁶

Day first or month first?

In the EU, the date is written day, month, year,² and so are the dates on packs in many other countries. So 12/03/26 on a pack from Europe means 12 March 2026. Packs made for the US often put the month first, so the same numbers would mean 3 December 2026.

Two quick checks when you're not sure:

If one of the first two numbers is above 12, it must be the day: 24/10/26 can only be 24 October.
If the month is written in letters (OCT, MAR), there's no doubt at all.

Codex, the international food standards body, leaves it to each country to decide whether packs that use only numbers must show the order, for example with DD/MM/YYYY next to the date.¹

Only a month and a year?

That's normal for food that keeps a long time. Under EU rules, food that keeps for three to 18 months may show just the month and year, and food that keeps longer may show just the year, with the wording "Best before end".² It means the quality is guaranteed until the end of that month or year.

Coded dates and numbers like 24298

Some packs carry a coded date instead of, or as well as, a plain one. A common type is the Julian date, where a number from 001 to 365 stands for the day of the year, with 1 January as 001.⁵ Makers often put two digits for the year in front of it, so 24298 would be the 298th day of 2024: 24 October 2024.

Coded dates are mainly packing numbers for the maker's own use.⁵ If a code is all you can find, look for a readable date elsewhere on the pack, and check the food itself.

BB 24/10/26

24 October 2026Day first, as in the EU and most of the world.

BB END 10 2027

End of October 2027Month and year only, for food that keeps a long time.

MFG 12.03.26
EXP 12.03.27

Made 12 March 2026, good until 12 March 2027Go by the EXP line.

LOT 4A21
24298

A batch code and a coded date24298 = day 298 of 2024. For the factory, not for you.

The rules around the world

Where	The date you'll see	Good to know
EU	"Best before (end)" and "Use by"	Day, month, year, in that order. After the use-by date, food is deemed unsafe.²
UK	"Best before" and "Use by"	Best before is about quality, use by about safety.³
US	Usually "Best if Used By"	Dates are voluntary except on infant formula.⁷ For food made from 1 July 2026, California uses "BEST if Used by" and "USE by" (or BB and UB on small packs) and bans "Sell by".⁶
Indonesia	"Baik digunakan sebelum"	One legal expiry date, day, month, year; month and year are allowed for food that keeps over three months.⁴

When there's no date at all

Some food doesn't need one. Under the international standard, fresh fruit and vegetables that haven't been cut, wine, vinegar, and bakery goods normally eaten within a day can go without a date.¹ Food from a market stall or a loose tray usually has none either.

Keepy · Kitchen guides

Best before vs use by: what the dates on food really mean

#Two kinds of date

#How the rules differ by country

#After the best before date

#After the use by date

#Where "sell by" fits in

Getting started with Keepy

#1. The first minute

#2. Add your first food

#3. Eat what's closest first

#4. Find anything in Items

#5. One reminder a day

#6. See your month

#7. Your data, your choice

How to organise your fridge so less food goes to waste

#Why it's worth ten minutes

#1. Get the temperature right

#2. First in, first out

#3. Give everything a place

#4. Leftovers and the freezer

#5. Shop with what's already there

How to read the expiry date codes on food packs

#Find the date first

#What the letters mean

#Day first or month first?

#Only a month and a year?

#Coded dates and numbers like 24298

#The rules around the world

#When there's no date at all

Two kinds of date

How the rules differ by country

After the best before date

After the use by date

Where "sell by" fits in

1. The first minute

2. Add your first food

3. Eat what's closest first

4. Find anything in Items

5. One reminder a day

6. See your month

7. Your data, your choice

Why it's worth ten minutes

1. Get the temperature right

2. First in, first out

3. Give everything a place

4. Leftovers and the freezer

5. Shop with what's already there

Find the date first

What the letters mean

Day first or month first?

Only a month and a year?

Coded dates and numbers like 24298

The rules around the world

When there's no date at all