| Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading
Food Labelling in the UK - A supporting material page |
Many foods need to be refrigerated to ensure their safety. This means that they will have a 'use by' date. This includes many cheeses. However, for many hard cheeses where the moisture content is low, refrigeration is used to slow mould growth rather than to ensure safety. This means that they do not meet the criteria for a 'use by' date and therefore will normally have a 'Best before' date.
This is the durability indication on a pack of Grated cheddar cheese. Even though it is grated, the life is determined by the potential for mould growth. Here the date is only given with the day and the month, 'Best before 05 Oct', suggesting the the company considers that the product will only maintain the expected qualities for less than 3 months. Storage conditions are also specified, 'Keep refrigerated':
Another example of a refrigerated food which normally has a 'Best before' date is butter. Refrigeration keeps the butter firm, slows mould growth and reduces rancidity. The image below shows the date mark from the back of a pack of Butter which states 'Best before 20 Nov 21'. Notice that storage instructions are given, 'Keep refrigerated', as well as some additional codes for the company's quality assurance systems:
