Dates on the products
Different kind of products can have different kind of dates: date of production, laying date, best before, expiry date, use-by date, etc. The meaning of each notion might vary from different countries and their legislation.
Best before
This notion, sometimes shown as BBE (best before end), seems to be available in many countries with the same meaning: best before is related to food quality and not food safety. The food will be safe to eat after this date but may not be at its best[1].
- Australia and New Zealand: "Most foods have a best before date. You can still eat foods for a while after the best before date as they should be safe but they may have lost some quality. Foods that have a best before date can legally be sold after that date provided the food is fit for human consumption"[2], tells the official foodstandards.gov.au.
- Canada
- Europe: see https://refreshcoe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/fw_lib_best_before_en.pdf
- France: this is called Date Limite d'Utilisation Optimale (DLUO) « à consommer de préférence jusqu'au/avant le… ». These sentences have to be mentioned completely.
- United Kingdom
- USA: Best if used by/best before seem commonly used[3].
Sources:
Use-by
This notion seems to be available in many countries with the same meaning: the products with a use-by date mustn't be eaten after this date.
- Australia and New Zealand: "Foods that must be eaten before a certain time for health or safety reasons should be marked with a use by date. Foods should not be eaten after the use by date and can’t legally be sold after this date because they may pose a health or safety risk." [2]
- France: "à consommer jusqu'au", "date limite de consommation (DLC)" [...]
Sell-by
Produced on
Laying date
Vintage
We're talking here about wines of course, but also sardines, and probably other kind of products.
Since
In many cases the since mention is related to the brand. Eg:
But some since mentions are related to the product itself. Eg:
[To be completed]