You can ignore best before dates for these pantry items, according to this food blogger

With prices of food soaring, people need to stretch every penny. As reported by The Sun, London-based creator and food blogger Gayle Chapman (@gaylechapman) shared some food items in her pantry whose 'use by dates' she usually ignores.

It is important to remember that there is a difference between best before and use by dates since a lot of people have the tendency to confuse the two. Best before dates have now been removed by a number of huge department stores like Waitrose, Tesco and Asda for their produce sections. But use by dates still persists as standard practice in the food industry.

As per The Sun, though the Tiktoker uses the term use by dates, she likely means to use best before date since 'that has much more wiggle room.'

Gayle Chapman’s list of products

Gayle ignores the best before dates for the following food items:

1. Miso paste
2. Fruit and veg
3. Marmite
4. Yoghurt
5. Pasta and rice

Use by date versus best before date

The TikTok video has gained support from viewers with many people agreeing with her and adding their own list of products to the mix. However, as mentioned before, it is important to be cautious about use by date, which is about food safety.

According to Food Standards Agency,

A use-by date on food is about safety. This is the most important date to remember. You can eat food until and on the use-by date but not after. You will see use-by dates on food that goes off quickly, such as meat products or ready-to-eat salads.

On the other hand, best before date is about quality and not safety. As per the Food Standards Agency website,

The food will be safe to eat after this date but may not be at its best. Its flavour and texture might not be as good.

Therefore, while you can safely ignore best before dates for certain products, you should pay attention to the use by dates for food items.

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