Expiry Date vs Best Before: Reading Codes, Spotting Re-Stamps
“5123” stamped on an imported tin isn’t a price. It’s a date: year 2025, day 123, which is 3 May. Reading food and cosmetic packs well comes down to a few rules: “best before” is about quality, “use by” and “expiry” are about safety, and a date that looks re-printed, scratched or covered by a sticker means you put the pack back. Here’s how to read the codes, spot a re-stamp, and decide what’s still fine past its date.
Quick facts
- Best before: quality date. Dry, sealed food is often fine after it.
- Use by / expiry: safety date. Don’t eat after it.
- MFG / MFD: manufacturing date, useful with “best within X months”.
- Batch / lot: for recalls and complaints, not freshness.
- Open-jar symbol (12M): months a cosmetic lasts after opening.
Expiry date vs best before: which one is about safety?
| Wording | What it means | After the date |
|---|---|---|
| Best before | Taste and texture at their best | Often fine if sealed and it looks and smells normal |
| Use by | Safe to eat until this date if stored right | Throw away |
| Expiry / EXP | Used loosely on local packs for either | Treat as “use by” for chilled, baby and medical-type foods |
| Once opened, use within X days | Clock starts on opening | This overrides the printed date |
Many packs in Pakistan and India just print “EXP”. On biscuits, rice or dry pasta, that’s really a best-before. On milk packs, yoghurt, processed meat, ready meals and infant formula, treat it as a hard safety line.
How to read expiry date codes
- Find both dates. Look on the bottom, the crimp of a packet, the neck of a bottle, or the lid of a tin. MFG or MFD is when it was made; EXP, BB or “Best before” is the end.
- Check the order. Most local and European packs print day first (05/03/26 is 5 March 2026). American imports often print month first (05/03/26 is 3 May 2026). If the pack is American, read it month first.
- Month and year only? “EXP 03/26” means the end of March 2026.
- “Best within 12 months of MFG” means add 12 months to the manufacturing date yourself.
- Julian codes on imported tins: a four- or five-digit number where the first digit (or two) is the year and the last three are the day of the year. 5123 is year 2025, day 123, which counts to 3 May.
- Batch or lot number: a mix of letters and digits (L2304B, for example). It doesn’t show freshness, but write it down if you ever need to complain or check a recall.
The open-jar symbol on cosmetics
Creams, lotions, mascara and sunscreen often carry a tiny drawing of an open jar with a number like 6M or 12M. That’s the period after opening (PAO): how many months the product stays good once you’ve opened it. Write the opening date on the pack with a marker. Some cosmetics also show an hourglass symbol with a date for the unopened shelf life. For how long makeup, brushes and razors last, see our guide to replacing razors, brushes and expired makeup.
How to spot a re-stamped or tampered date
Changing the date on old stock is a known trick at some shops, especially with discount bins and slow-moving imported goods. Put the pack back if you see:
- A date in a different ink, font or colour from the rest of the printing on the same pack.
- Scratched, rubbed or blurred areas where a date used to be.
- A sticker, price tag or tape placed right over the date.
- Two dates, or a date on a loose sticker rather than printed into the pack.
- A date that doesn’t fit the packaging, like a faded, sun-bleached box with a far-off expiry.
- Dusty, dented or crushed packs with a suspiciously fresh date.
Also be careful with the date itself on chilled goods kept in a warm shop fridge. The date assumes the product stayed cold. A yoghurt kept at 12 °C for a day is not really good until the printed date, whatever it says.
A printed date is a promise that only holds if the pack was stored the way the label says.
Why dates on chilled and frozen food matter more than on biscuits
Dry foods spoil slowly because germs need water to grow. Past the best-before, biscuits go soft and rice may get weevils, but they rarely make anyone ill. Chilled foods are different: milk, curd, cream, paneer, cooked meats, sauces and ready meals are wet, rich and easy for germs, and some germs like Listeria grow even in the fridge. Frozen food stays safe while frozen, but quality drops, and a pack that has thawed and refrozen (ice crystals inside, food stuck in a lump) is a pass.
What’s safe past the date, and what never is
| Usually fine past best before | Never past use by |
|---|---|
| Rice, flour, dry daal (check for weevils and musty smell) | Infant formula and baby food |
| Biscuits, crackers, crisps (may be stale) | Fresh milk packs, yoghurt, cream, paneer |
| Sugar, salt, honey (never honey for babies under 1) | Raw meat, chicken, fish, ready meals |
| Sealed tins without dents or bulges | Anything bulging, leaking or smelling off |
Throw away any tin that is bulging, leaking, deeply dented along the seam, or spurts when opened, whatever the date. That’s a sign of germ growth that can include botulism. Flour, nuts and spices that smell musty or show mould go in the bin too, because mould on grains and nuts can make aflatoxin.
At the shop shelf
Reach to the back of the shelf, where newer stock usually sits. For chilled items, choose packs from inside the fridge, not near the door, and put them in your own fridge within an hour.
Myth: food is poisonous the day after its expiry date
A date isn’t a switch. Best-before foods don’t turn dangerous at midnight, and many are fine for weeks. The opposite mistake is worse, though: trusting a date on chilled food that sat warm, or on a pack that has been opened for days. Storage and opening matter as much as the printed number.
Did you know?
- Honey, sugar and salt keep almost indefinitely if sealed and dry. Their best-before dates are mostly there because the law asks for a date.
- Sunscreen past its expiry can give less protection than its SPF says, so a burn is possible even when you’ve applied it properly.
Never use infant formula, baby food, or chilled food for a pregnant woman, older person or anyone unwell past its use-by date, and never taste food to check whether it’s gone off. Stop any expired cream or makeup that stings, itches or changes colour or smell, and see a doctor for swelling or an eye infection after using old eye makeup. Medicines follow their own rules, so ask a pharmacist before using anything past its date. After eating something doubtful, see a doctor for vomiting that won’t stop, blood in the stool, fever of 39 °C or more, or signs of dehydration; our food poisoning red flags page covers the first day. Report re-stamped stock to your provincial food authority with the pack and receipt.
More everyday kitchen checks sit in Desi Remedies, including loose milk boiling safety for milk with no date at all.
Expiry date questions people ask
What is the difference between best before and expiry date?
Best before is about quality: the food tastes best until then and is often fine after if sealed and stored well. Expiry or use by is about safety, and food shouldn’t be eaten after it.
How to check expiry date on a product?
Look on the base, lid, crimp or bottle neck for EXP, BB or “Best before”, next to the MFG date. Check whether the format is day first or month first, and read Julian codes as year plus day of the year.
Expiry date vs use by date: are they the same?
Close enough for chilled and baby foods: both mean don’t eat after this. On dry local packs, “EXP” often works more like a best-before.
How to read an expiry date on imported food?
American packs usually print month first, European and local packs day first. A four- or five-digit code on a tin is often a Julian date: year first, then the day number of that year.
What are the side effects of expired makeup?
Old makeup can grow germs and break down, causing rashes, itching, breakouts or eye infections, especially mascara and eyeliner. Follow the open-jar symbol and throw away anything that smells or looks different.
Can I eat biscuits after the expiry date?
If it’s a best-before and the pack is sealed, dry, and the biscuits smell normal, they’re usually fine, just less crisp. Throw them away if they smell rancid or show mould.
Is it safe to use expired sunscreen?
It’s better not to rely on it, because protection can drop below the SPF on the label. Replace it and don’t leave sunscreen in hot cars.
How can I tell if an expiry date has been changed?
Look for a different font or ink from the rest of the print, scratched or blurred areas, a sticker over the date, or two dates. If anything looks off, don’t buy it.
What is a batch number on food?
It identifies the production run the pack came from. It doesn’t show freshness, but you need it for recalls and complaints.
What does 12M mean on a cream?
It means the cream is good for 12 months after you first open it. Write the opening date on the pack so you remember.