At Curd & Cure, we work closely with artisan producers, sharing their passion for high quality ingredients and often time-consuming methods to produce premium products. It is always devastating when we see food waste within the business as it is not only a loss of these products, but when food is thrown away, some of the resources and energy that went into the production are also wasted.

An estimated 180,000 tonnes of food is wasted every year in the UK due to confusion over date labelling. Expiry dates are estimated to be responsible for 10% of food wasted in Europe. 

The ‘Look, Smell, Taste, Don’t Waste’ campaign led by Too Good To Go, encourages consumers to check products for freshness if the best-before dates have passed and use their judgement through their senses before throwing away certain foods unnecessarily.

The campaign is backed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

We were keen to get involved with the campaign as through Too Good To Go we have been able to enable customers to still enjoy our products at a discounted price, when they have passed the best before dates. This has included cheeses, mayonnaises, fizzy drinks and olives to name a few products. Too Good To Go encourage customers to use their judgement on these products, up to 3 months after the best-before date has passed. 

We have put together a quick guide on what the different date labels mean so that people have a greater understanding of the difference between the labels, including which ones are important to follow and which ones can use your best judgment instead.

Date label:	Which foods:	What does it mean?	What should you do?
Use by	Food that goes off quickly.Meat, fish, soft cheeses, salads.	Food is unsafe to eat after this date.It is important to follow these dates as otherwise they might cause health & safety issues.	You can extend the life of these products by freezing them before the use-by date passes.
Best before	Found on packaged foods.Hard cheeses, condiments, olives, bread, biscuits, eggs, milk, tinned foods, dried foods.	Food might have lost quality, flavour or texture after this date. This date is just an estimate by the manufacturer or producer on when the food is at its peak quality.	Use your senses, if the date has passed but the food looks, smells and tastes okay, you’re in the clear. Once opened, treat the item as fresh and follow advice such as ‘eat within three days of opening.’
Display until/sell-by	Can be on all types of products.	For staff in shops to know how long products have been sitting on shelves. Not required by law.	These labels can be ignored as they have nothing to do with the expiry of the product.

If you want to read more: 
Visit Too Good To Go’s articles on expiration dates and their date labelling campaigns.