Date Marking: Use By

Any food which “from a microbiological point of view, is highly perishable and in consequence likely after a short period of time to constitute an immediate danger to human health” is required to have a “Use By” date. Many chilled foods come into this category.

This example is from a pack of Minced beef:

The “Use By” date is given here as dd/mm/yyyy, “05/06/2021”. Storage conditions necessary for the safety of the product are given directly below the “Use By” date, “Keep refrigerated 0°C to +5°C”.

This second example is from the lid of a pot of Cottage cheese. In this case only the day and month have been given. As required, storage conditions have also been provided: