THE City of York Council Food and Safety Unit often receives inquiries from both consumers and businesses on the subject of the date marking of foods.

The date marks on food labels are there to help food businesses and their customers maintain food safety and food quality.

There are currently two different date marks used on packaged foods, the Use By date and the Best Before date.

Use By dates are used for highly perishable foods which after a short period of time could become a food safety risk by supporting the growth of food poisoning bacteria.

Foods which generally need Use By dates include cooked meats, pats, prepared vegetables and salads, soft cheeses and ready meals.

It is an offence for businesses to have in their possession, or display or sell ANY food after its Use By date.

Best Before dates are used for foods which if stored properly, will be at their best until their Best Before date. Once past that date, the quality of the food may suffer, even in the case of frozen, dried, canned or bottled foods.

It is not an offence for businesses to have, display or sell food after the Best Before date, but in some cases the quality of the food may have become so poor that offences may be committed under the Food Safety Act.

It is also an offence for food businesses, to remove or alter Use By or Best Before dates unless they are the manufacturer, packer or seller originally responsible for marking the food with that date.

The manufacturers of foods marked with a Use By date and most manufacturers of foods marked with a Best Before date will label them with information on storing the foods correctly.

If you do not follow the manufacturer's advice on food storage, Best Before dated foods may suffer quality problems and Use By dated foods may become unsafe.

- If you would like more information on the date marking or storage of foods you can contact the Food Safety and Standards Unit on York (01904) 551525.