Food

What is it made of?

Labels on most packed foods must list all the ingredients. The list can tell us a lot about a food - and whether its what we want.

Value for money

Ingredients, including additives, are listed in descending order of weight at the time of their use in the preparation of food. So if we buy mushroom soup, we get more mushrooms than other ingredients where mushrooms come nearest the top of the ingredients list. 

The list does not have to give the amounts of any ingredient. But a fruit yogurt that lists sugar higher than fruit probably has only a small amount of fruit in it, no matter how pink it looks.

We may not mind if a food contains less of more expensive ingredients if we like the taste and the price is right. But without the ingredients list, we would not know what we are choosing.  If a food label makes a special claim such as 'with extra chocolate', then the label must show the minimum amount of that ingredient.  We can decide for ourselves whether we think the product is worth our money.

Use By

The Use by datemark is for highly perishable foods which could become a food safety risk, such as some meat products or ready-prepared meals. Use by is a clear instruction - we should use the food by the end of the date given on the label.  Keeping food beyond this date could put our health at risk. 

We should not rely on our senses alone to tell us when food is 'off'. It is not always obvious when food has become unsafe to eat. However, Use by does not necessarily mean 'eat by' because cooking or freezing food before its Use by date can extend its life.

What about 'Best Before'?

Most food that can safely be kept longer carries a 'Best before' datemark. When that date runs out, it doesn't mean that the food may be dangerous - but it may no longer be at its best.  Even frozen, dried and canned foods start to deteriorate in the end.  So if we want to enjoy the food at its best, we should use it by its Best before date.

Sell By Dates, etc.

By the way ,the phrase "past its sell by date" originates from food law but as we know as been extended to other things to mean something obsolete or outdated. A bit like"sell by's" themselves really, since they were replaced by "use by's" in the early 80's and have no legal meaning any more. Terms such as "display until" or "enjoy by" also have no meaning in law. These are used by retailers for information only.