Understanding the date labels on your food

Understanding the different dates on your food can help you make informed decisions about what you buy and consume.

There are different kinds of date labels, depending on the product. The most common ones are best before dates, packaged on dates and expiration dates.

Best before date

A best before date tells you how long a properly stored unopened food product will keep its:

freshness
taste
nutritional value
any other qualities claimed by the manufacturer

If the unopened product has been properly handled, it should maintain its quality until this date.

However, these dates don't guarantee product safety; what they provide is information about the freshness and potential shelf-life of the foods you are buying.

It's important to note that a best before date is not the same as an expiration date.

What a best before date looks like

Best before dates can be identified with the words "best before" and "meilleur avant" grouped together with the date, unless a clear explanation of the significance of the best before date appears elsewhere on the label.

While the date can appear anywhere on the package, if placed on the bottom, this has to be indicated elsewhere on the label.

The month must be in both official languages or indicated through bilingual symbols.

The year is optional, unless it is needed for the sake of clarity (for example, if the shelf life extends into a new calendar year). If included, the year must appear first, followed by the month, then the day.

Example:

Best before
17 JA 30
Meilleur avant

JA: January
FE: February
MR: March
AL: April
MA: May
JN: June
JL: July
AU: August
SE: September
OC: October
NO: November
DE: December

When best before dates are used

Foods with a shelf life of 90 days or less, except for fresh fruit and vegetables and certain other products, are required to have either a best before date or packaged on date, depending on where they are packaged and sold.

When foods are packaged and sold in different places

Foods that are packaged at a place other than the retail store where they are sold, need to have:

a best before date, and
proper storage instructions (if different from normal room temperature).

When foods are packaged and sold at the same place

Foods that are packaged at the retail store where they are sold may be labelled with either:

a best before date and storage instructions, or
a packaged on date with accompanying information about the shelf life of the food (such as the number of days a product will retain its freshness) on the label or on a poster next to the food.

For more information about food packaged at your retail store, contact your retailer.

Products with a shelf life greater than 90 days

Foods with an anticipated shelf life greater than 90 days are not required to be labelled with a best before date or storage information, as they are generally considered to be shelf stable. Examples include most canned foods, many dry foods such as pasta and foods that are sold in a frozen state. However, some manufacturers and retailers choose to provide customers with this information voluntarily.

How best before dates are determined

It is the responsibility of the manufacturer or retailer to determine:

if the product has a durable life of 90 days or less, and
the specific durable life information for the products they sell.

Food producers and retailers that manufacture food products base the date on how long an unopened product will retain its wholesomeness, taste, nutritional value, and any other qualities, as well as other factors such as the type of product, how it is processed and how it is packaged and stored.

The durable life of products or categories is not set out in regulations.

Food safety of products past their best before dates

Best before dates are not indicators of food safety, neither before nor after the date.

You can buy and eat foods after the best before date has passed. However, after this date has passed, the food may lose some of its freshness, flavour, and nutritional value. Its texture may have also changed. For example, vitamin C content in juice may decrease after the best before date.

Best before dates apply to unopened products only. Once opened, the food's shelf life may change.

Foods that are likely to spoil should be properly stored, and should be eaten as quickly as possible. Harmful micro-organisms that lead to foodborne illness can grow in foods, even if they do not appear to be spoiled. Storing your food properly is one of the key things you can do to protect yourself and your family from foodborne illness.

Can retailers change the best before date on a food product

It is illegal for food manufacturers, producers or retailers to change the best before date if it results in false or misleading information on the label, or food that is unsafe.

If you suspect a food product has false or misleading information on the label, report your concern to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

What to do if you see a product for sale that is past its best before date

It's not illegal to sell food past its best before date. You can buy and eat foods after the best before date has passed. However, after this date has passed, the food may lose some of its freshness, flavour, and nutritional value. Its texture may have also changed.

For example, vitamin C content in juice may decrease after the best before date.

You can use this information to consider how the food may have changed in terms of its freshness, flavour, texture and/or nutritional value before purchasing. Alternatively, you can notify your retailer.

Expiration date

An expiration date is not the same as a best before date. Expiration dates are required only on certain foods that have strict compositional and nutritional specifications which might not be met after the expiration date.

Expiration dates must be used on the following products:

formulated liquid diets (nutritionally complete diets for people using oral or tube feeding methods)
foods represented for use in a very low-energy diet (foods sold only by a pharmacist and only with a written order from a physician)
meal replacements (formulated food that, by itself, can replace one or more daily meals)
nutritional supplements (food sold or represented as a supplement to a diet that may be inadequate in energy and essential nutrients)
human milk substitutes (infant formula)

After the expiration date, the food may not have the same nutrient content as declared on the label.

Food should not be bought, sold or eaten if the expiration date has passed. It should be discarded.

What to do if you see a product for sale that is past its expiration date

If you see foods being sold past their expiration date, you can report a concern to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. This allows an inspector to begin a food safety investigation.

Packaged on dates

Packaged on dates are similar to best before dates but are used on foods packaged at retail that have a durable life of 90 days or less, and must be accompanied by durable life information either on the label or on a poster next to the food. This information can be provided in different ways, such as applying a best before date or the number of days a product will retain its freshness. Together, the packaged on date and durable life information tells you the anticipated amount of time that an unopened food product will retain its quality and freshness.

What a packaged on date looks like

Packaged on dates must be grouped together with the date, using the words "packaged on" and "empaqueté le", unless a clear explanation of the significance of the date appears elsewhere on the label.

Example:

Packaged on
17 JA 30
Empaqueté le

JA: January
FE: February
MR: March
AL: April
MA: May
JN: June
JL: July
AU: August
SE: September
OC: October
NO: November
DE: December

More date labels

The Food and Drug Regulations state that the words "use by" and "employez avant" may replace "best before" for prepackaged fresh yeast only. It must be presented in the same form and manner as the best before date.

Other voluntary date labels may be applied to food products as long as they are not misleading and meet appropriate requirements. These include:

sell by dates
prepared on dates
freeze by dates
manufactured on dates

How regulations and standards are enforced

The Government of Canada is committed to food safety.

Health Canada establishes regulations and standards relating to the safety and nutritional quality of food sold in Canada. Through inspection and enforcement activities, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for verifying that food sold in Canada meets Health Canada's requirements.

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