Use by date

[tkwinston4]

Hi all, I have done a search and it didn't really throw up much so thought I would ask the question.

How long do people give for their use by date?

I read that 2 years is the norm but then I saw another post that said theirs is 2020!!!

Are there any hard and fast rules about it?

Ta.

 

[Tom Bick]

I understand two years is the norm

 

[For want of a better word]

Bit like a VAT return ..... as long as you fill in the date,,, any date will do.... you are covered ?

 

[Chris B]

"Best Before" and "Use By" don't mean the same thing.

I use a 2 year BB date but I don't believe there is any hard and fast legal requirement for a particular time period.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have 2 years on my jars.

 

[susbees]

A well known seller in these parts uses 2017...

 

[drstitson]

for many people this year the bees themselves considered a "use by end aug 2011" as entirely reasonable and in fact compulsory.

 

[tkwinston4]

Thanks, all. Two years it is then!

 

[drstitson]

i would have thought the BBKA leaflet should have been obvious first port of call for "definitive" guidance for the first time seller.

http://www.b b k a.org.uk/files/library/selling_honey_b10_1306864705.pdf

 

[luckyclover]

Factor in labels, if you spend a fortune and don't sell enough you could end up trying to sell honey in late summer that apparently is best consumed that year. The general public still gets confused between best before and use by.

 

[Rosti]

The boring bit. It is the indication of minimum durability, it does not have to be best before there are other formats available but for honey you use best before or best before end (see diff below). You do not use 'use-by' because that infers a level of food safety risk if the date limit is breached and also requires the manufacturer to provide a higher level of validation for the life duration specified.

Best before normally infers that the product may not be within its high quality life but remains fundamentally safe if the date is exceeded. A simple record of the refractometer reading on the production record is sufficient to prove stability. Legal Root Ref is Section 20, Statutory Instrument 1996 No. 1499, The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (+ ammends).

My Preferred option is best before end and a date as MMM-YYYY (Best Before requires a specific day accurate date - un-necessary but can make traceability easier), for traceability (required by the European Food Hygiene Regulations EC 178/2002 you may also have to include a lot number if the BBE on its own is not sufficient to prove unique batch traceability, hence a specific date that corresponds to say 12 months from date of pack can cover both bases (but not as elegant in my opinion).

Since honey found in Egyptian tombs has been deemed stable and safe you should be OK with 2 years!!! I put a 1 year life on mine to 'encourage' repeat purchases but then I print labels on demand and so dont have to worry about stocks. 2 years feels good in the form BBE Aug2013 or similar if you have 1 pack off in the month. Use BB 18 Aug2013 format if you pack off more than once to quickly maintain traceability.

 

[itma]

The boring bit. ...

No, that's the good bit.
Thank you for setting it out so practically.

 

[tkwinston4]

 

[BBG]

Thanks, all. Two years it is then!

Four, sounds better.

 

[Hombre]

Best before date is best calculated to cater for the end of your run of labels.

Consequently the labels are best before (the end of the year stated)

 

[BKF Admin]

From the BBC news site today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14925046

 

[jakethedog]

Th---nes still suggest 2 to 5 years as being suitable for a 'best before' date.

It does all pose a different, deeper question too -at what point does honey start to degrade so as to no longer be of 'best' quality?

 

[beebreeder]

One of my jars of honey was bought by trading standards now called public protection, they were doing a spot check of honey sold in my locality and bought many samples. The honey was tested for pollen content and HMF and passed fine, the jar was however failed on a labelling technicality. My Labels come from TH****S and if you order online you just fill in the required fields, my label states "Best before Decemeber 2012" and that is how they print it, I just state month and year, it should say "Best before end 2012" or "Best before 31st December 2012" because the word end is not on the label it is technically not compliant. I have spoken to the local T/Standards and they have o/k'ed me using the rest of my thousand label run and get the wording correct on the next run, so be warned they do check but are reasonable people.
PS I don't know if this applies to all of their labels but certainly my cottage label is not right

 

[drstitson]

bizarre - any sane person would take "BB Dec 12" to mean until end nov 2012.

in my book best before 31st Dec 2012 or Best before end dec 2012 equals best before Jan 2013!!!!

a quick look at several TS websites confirms the two (BB d/m/y or BBE) options.

BY the way - the BBKA pamphlet is completely unhelpful on this as they do not use the word "end" in this context!!!!

 

[johnandyrob]

From the BBC news site today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14925046

So where does that leave us?