When you’re standing at the shelf comparing two nearly identical foods, chances are you’ll find a “use by” date on one and a “best before” date on the other. For many people, it’s the same thing – something expired is just wrong and ripe for the bin. Yet each term comes with different legal rules and different requirements.
This misunderstanding has two consequences: either you are throwing away safe food unnecessarily or you are risking your health. In this article, we have summarised what exactly these terms mean under European and Czech regulations, what obligations they imply for manufacturers, retailers and e-shops, and what rights you have as a buyer.
Shelf-life labelling of food is not based on a single Czech law, but on a combination of European and national regulations. In particular, the EU Regulation on the provision of food information to consumers, which defines what a “best before date” is and what a “use by date” is, referred to here as “use by”. This is followed by the General Food Law Regulation, which stipulates that unsafe food must not be placed on the market at all – i.e. food that may endanger the health of the consumer.
This European regulation is complemented by the Czech Food and Tobacco Products Act and its implementing decrees, which deal with technical details such as the labelling method, the language of the information on the packaging or its legibility. The Consumer Protection Act and the Civil Code also come into play, regulating your claims for defective performance (i.e. in particular claims for defective goods) and prohibiting misleading commercial practices, such as confusing or incomplete shelf-life information.
Compliance with these rules is monitored in practice, in particular by the State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority(SZPI), which checks the safety, quality and labelling of most food in bricks-and-mortar shops and on the internet.
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The Food Information Regulation distinguishes between a best before date and a use-by date (in practice written as “use by”). Foods that are easily perishable from a microbiological point of view and may pose an immediate danger to human health after a short period of time are labelled with a use-by date (“use by”).
In simple terms: the use-by date is the last day on which the food is considered safe for human consumption if stored properly. After this date, the manufacturer and the law no longer guarantee that the food meets the safety requirements.
Typically, this applies to fresh, perishable foods such as chilled meat and minced meat, fresh fish, fresh dairy products (yoghurt, fresh cheese, cream) or deli salads.
After the ‘use by’ date, the food must not be marketed at all and must be disposed of as they may pose a health risk. This includes a ban on using food after the use-by date as raw material for further production (for example, in baguettes or ready meals).
If a shop sells food after the ‘use by’ date, this is both a breach of the law and a defect in the goods against you as the buyer – the very fact that they have sold it to you gives rise to a complaint. The supervisory authorities (in particular the SZPI) can impose fines of up to millions of crowns on the seller for such violations.
From a legal point of view, the answer is simple: after the “use by” date, the food is deemed to be non-compliant and the recommendation is not to consume it. In practice, however, we all know that the reality is a bit more complicated – food does not turn into “poison” overnight just because the date on the packaging passed yesterday.
So, if the food is shortly past the date (say, a day or two), has been stored properly all the time, and has no signs of spoilage (no smell, no change in colour, no puffiness in the packaging), you can safely consume it.
For high-risk foods, such as raw meat, minced meat, fish or chilled deli products, it is advisable to be much more careful – if the use-by date has been exceeded for a long time or you are unsure of the storage conditions, it is better to throw the food away.
But in any case, it always makes sense to use your own judgement – look, smell, or taste a small amount, and if anything doesn’t fit, the food belongs in the bin, even if the date hasn’t passed.
The official rules therefore set a strict limit at which the manufacturer and the retailer are no longer liable. But in the home, you always end up making the decision, and it is appropriate to combine knowledge of the risks with a prudent but rational assessment of the particular food.
In contrast, the ‘best before date’ is the date until which a food retains its specific characteristics – i.e. taste, flavour, texture or colour – when stored properly. What the manufacturer is saying is: ‘I guarantee that the product will be as it should be by this date’. In some cases, expired food can even be sold (see next chapter).
So, after the best before date, the food is usually still safe, it just may not taste as it should – for example, it may be less crisp, the smell may be weaker, the coffee may have a less intense aroma.
You’ll mainly find best before dates on dry, long-lasting foods such as pasta, rice and flour, as well as canned food, coffee, tea, cocoa, biscuits, chocolate, long-life milk and frozen foods.
There is even more room for common sense with these foods than with foods labelled ‘use by’. Just because a product has passed its best before date does not automatically mean that it is unsafe. Pasta or rice, for example, can be eaten months after the date on the packaging, as long as the packaging has been intact the whole time, the food has not been exposed to moisture or extreme temperatures, and there are no visible or perceptible signs of spoilage – for example, mould, a musty smell, a rancid taste in the case of fatty foods, or a bloated tin.
At the same time, if the packaging is obviously damaged, puffy, rusted or if the food has visibly changed colour or smell, it should be thrown away – even if the best before date has not yet formally expired.
In short: ‘use by’ refers to safety, it is the use-by date for perishable food and once it has expired it cannot be sold and should be handled with great care. By contrast, the ‘best before’ date is mainly concerned with quality – the manufacturer guarantees taste, flavour and texture up to this date, but if stored correctly the food can still be safely eaten after this date.
Although cosmetic products are not covered by food law, they function very similarly to food in terms of shelf life and safe use – here too the law addresses how long a product is safe and functional, and how the consumer should know this from the packaging.
For cosmetics, you will commonly see two types of information:
The principle is very similar to that of food: until the date (or time after opening) stated, the manufacturer guarantees that the product will work as promised and will be safe for your skin. After this time, the manufacturer no longer gives this guarantee. This does not mean that the product will turn into an unsafe substance overnight, but it does increase the risk that the active ingredients will lose their effect (for example, in creams with vitamin C or retinol), that the consistency or smell will change (separated oil, lumpiness, rancid smell), or that microorganisms will multiply in the packaging that can cause skin irritation or allergic reactions.
In practice, therefore, similar rules apply as for foodstuffs: as long as the packaging is intact, the product has been stored correctly and does not change colour, texture or smell, the cosmetic can be used beyond its best before date. For products that have already been opened and the declared expiry date has passed (e.g. 12M), more caution is in order – especially for eye products, lipsticks and creams in cups that come into frequent contact with the fingers.
So, as with food, it pays to look not only at the date on the packaging, but also at your own senses. If a cream smells, has changed colour, the oil and water components have separated, or your skin burns or itches after application, it’s safer to say goodbye.
Yes, the basic rules are the same across the EU because they are unified by the EU Regulation on the provision of food information to consumers. This defines both the best before and best before dates (“use by”) and sets out how these dates are to be displayed. Individual countries, including the Czech Republic, can add their own details to the rules (e.g. labelling language, sanctions, details of checks), but the basic principles are the same in all Member States.
In the Czech Republic, the State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI) oversees most food in shops and e-shops. In catering establishments (restaurants, school canteens, hospitals), regional health stations are mainly involved in the control, while the State Veterinary Administration is also involved in the control of animal products.
Producers must rely on expert evidence – microbiological tests, knowledge of raw materials, production technology and storage conditions. In practice, a safety margin is added to the safe period so that the expiry date is not set to the limit.
No – the same basic principle applies to food service operators as to the trade: food after its use-by date must not be marketed or used for food preparation.
EU and Czech regulations allow some products not to carry a best before date at all. Typically, these are foods with a very long shelf life – for example, salt, sugar, vinegar, some spirits, but also fresh fruit and vegetables and ordinary fresh baked goods.
The law requires that all mandatory information on packaging must be in Czech, legible, in uncoded form and in a clearly visible place. Neither the manufacturer nor the seller can hide the date so that you have trouble finding it. A typical problem is when the date is taped over the price tag, partially wiped off, or printed in such tiny print that you cannot read it without a magnifying glass.
As well as the date itself, always look out for the accompanying text, i.e. whether it says ‘best before’or ‘use by’. It is the wording that tells you whether it is a quality or safety related claim. The best before or use by date must be clearly identifiable – ideally with the relevant wording directly in front of the date. Where several different dates appear on the packaging (e.g. date of manufacture, batch, packaging and shelf-life), the meaning of each should always be clearly indicated. If you see several dates on the packaging and it is not clear which one is the best before date, or if there is no verbal explanation, the labelling may be misleading.
Storage conditions play a crucial role in the shelf life of food. The use-by date is only valid if the storage conditions stated on the packaging are respected, for example ‘store at 0-4 °C’ or ‘protect from direct sunlight’. If these conditions are deviated from, the food may be unsafe long before the date on the packaging expires.
Typical examples are when a shop does not refrigerate food properly, or when you leave your entire grocery shop in a hot car for several hours at home. In such cases, it’s not a mistake in the date, but a breach of proper storage – for the retailer, it may be a breach of their legal obligations, but for you at home, it’s a risky handling of the food for which you are already responsible.
Similarly, it is important to be aware of what happens to the food once the packaging is opened. In addition to the expiry date itself, many products have additional information such as ‘use within 3 days after opening’ or ‘refrigerate after opening’. This is particularly important for canned foods, pates, juices and other long-life foods: once the packaging is opened, air and micro-organisms get in and the actual safe period of use is significantly reduced.
It is on the question of what can and cannot be eaten after the expiry date on the packaging that the difference between “use by” and “best before” becomes most apparent. While the legislation is very strict and unambiguous for “use by” foods, the law gives retailers a little more leeway for foods with a best before date – but under strict conditions.
For foods marked ‘use by’, once the day has passed, the food may no longer be placed on the market at all. The seller must remove it from sale and must treat it as a non-compliant food. It must therefore not be sold legally, even in the form of a sale or at a substantial discount. Neither may they offer it free of charge to consumers in the context of normal distribution. In legal terms, it simply has no business in the hands of the average consumer, because it is assumed to be a higher health risk. If a shop sells such food anyway, it is breaking the law and exposing itself not only to the possibility of a fine from the supervisory authority, but also to liability to the customers who buy the goods.
The situation is quite different for food labelled ‘best before’. Here, the law assumes that after this date, the food is still safe, it just may no longer meet the original quality requirements. Therefore, the legislation allows a shop to continue to sell food after the best before date, but only if it meets several conditions:
If a shop fails to comply with these conditions (for example, by not labelling goods after the best before date, leaving them on a regular shelf with other food, or selling products that are already obviously spoiled), it is committing an offence. From the buyer’s point of view, it is also a defect in the goods. If, for example, you bought biscuits in good faith from a regular shelf, and you find out at home that the minimum shelf life has expired and the shop has not warned you about this, you can legitimately seek redress: a refund, replacement or other form of compensation.
From a retailer’s point of view, it is therefore worthwhile to have clear internal rules for dealing with expired food with a best before date: regular date checks, moving to a separate, well-marked location, keeping at least basic records and training staff. This protects not only the health and rights of their customers, but also themselves.
The law does not directly prescribe what exactly a store’s internal processes should look like, but it does require that the retailer demonstrably ensure food safety. A typical example where internal rules become a necessity is the cutting and repackaging of food. If a store unpacks a large ham, cheese or other packaged item to sell in smaller pieces, it automatically changes the conditions under which the manufacturer has determined shelf life. In such a case, it is not enough to guess ‘offhand’ that it will last for a week. The retailer must clearly state by how much the minimum shelf life or use-by date will be reduced and under what conditions the repackaged product must continue to be stored – for example, what temperature the product must be kept in the display case, how long the product may be on display, when the unsold goods must be discarded. All of this should be captured in internal, written procedures based on HACCP principles.
HACCP is an abbreviation for “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points”, the Czech term commonly used is “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points”. It is a system according to which the operator (e.g. shop, restaurant, canteen) maps the entire food handling process – from receipt of goods, through storage, preparation to dispensing.
Reasonably set internal rules usually include several follow-up steps. In practice, this starts with an ongoing check of best before dates – employees are instructed how often and how to search shelves, coolers and warehouses for items approaching their “use by” or “best before” dates. For products approaching their best before date, the store can set up a pre-set time to move them to a visibly marked sale area where the customer can clearly see that the product is past its best before date, for example, sold at a discount. These rules should also include records of when the goods were moved to the zone, their original best before date and when they are due to sell out. In this way, the retailer has proof that it is actually monitoring the situation and that there is no expired food on its shelves.
Internet food sales are rightly considered distance selling, but from a safety perspective the same rules apply as in a bricks-and-mortar shop – i.e. no sale after the use-by date and strict rules for goods past their best before date.
In distance selling, all mandatory information on the food must be available before the purchase is concluded, with the exception of the best before and best before dates. This must be available at the time of delivery at the latest.
If the e-shop delivers the goods after the use-by date or obviously spoiled before this date, you can follow the same procedure as in a bricks-and-mortar shop: make a complaint or report to the supervisory authorities.
As a buyer, your rights as a food buyer are governed by the same basic rules as for any other goods: the seller is liable for the goods being free from defects when received and having the characteristics that can reasonably be expected, i.e. those promised in the description, on the packaging or usual for the product. The difference is that food is perishable, can affect your health and has a limited shelf life. Therefore, some of the rules are more practically applied to them and within shorter time limits.
If you buy food in a shop that is mouldy, smells, has a bulging tin, is discoloured, has a strange slimy surface or has a foreign object in it, it is a quality defect. Similarly, it is a defect if the ingredients of the product do not match what is written on the packaging – for example, a different type of fat, a lower proportion of meat or an allergenic ingredient that you were not told about.
Selling after the ‘use by’ date and selling after the ‘best before’ date are also defects unless you are clearly informed in advance. For example, if you bought biscuits from a regular shelf and only find out at home that the best before date expired a month ago and the shop did not say so, you have every right to defend yourself.
But there is one important practical difference with food: there is no point in claiming a ‘two-year guarantee’ in the classic sense. While the law generally provides that the consumer can claim defects within two years, this would not make sense for foodstuffs – their nature is different, they spoil quickly and they have a precise expiry date or minimum shelf life. Therefore, defects in food must be claimed without undue delay, but no later than the end of the use-by or best before date.
If you discover a defect, you have the right to request a remedy, typically the replacement of the product with a faultless one or a refund of the purchase price. Sometimes a reasonable discount may make sense, especially if the defect exists but does not prevent you from using the product (a typical example is cosmetically damaged packaging that is crumpled, torn or dirty, but the food itself is safe and undamaged). In this case, instead of an exchange or refund, you can agree to the shop giving you a discount.
You can also read our article on product complaints. Find out when you’re entitled to a refund and the difference between a claim and a withdrawal.
When it’s no longer just about expired yoghurt for a few dozen crowns, but about damage to health, the whole situation takes on a whole different level. Typically, this can be the case if you develop food poisoning, severe stomach upset, allergic reaction or even need to be hospitalised after eating a particular food. At that point, it’s no longer just a claim for faulty goods, but for compensation for damages and personal injury.
To be able to claim against the seller (or the manufacturer or supplier), you need to prove several things: that they have breached their duty (for example, they sold unsafe food, stored it incorrectly, left the goods on sale after the expiry date), that you have suffered a specific injury (for example, a diagnosis of food poisoning, hospitalisation, incapacity for work) and that there is a causal link – i.e. that your problems were actually caused by the product and not something else.
This is why medical reports, laboratory analyses, the results of hygiene or inspection checks and sometimes even expert reports are so important.
In practice, it usually looks like the doctor records the suspicion of a particular food in the medical records, the hygiene station or the HSE can take samples and carry out the analysis, and you should keep the receipt, the product packaging and any photographs yourself.
On the basis of these documents, you can then ask the responsible body to reimburse you not only for the food itself, but also for the costs of treatment, medication, travel to the doctor, lost earnings, pain and suffering or other non-pecuniary damage associated with, for example, hospitalisation or long-term consequences. For more serious injuries to health, the amounts involved may be in the tens or hundreds of thousands of crowns.
These disputes tend to be complicated mainly in terms of evidence. The seller or manufacturer may defend themselves by claiming that your problems have another cause, that the food was stored improperly in your home, or that a link between the product and the injury cannot be reliably established. This is where it is very worthwhile to take the help of a lawyer.
An experienced attorney can help you properly draft your claim, gather and organize evidence, communicate with the seller, the manufacturer or their insurance company, and in extreme cases, the court. Without legal help, it is easy to forget something, underestimate the amount of a claim, or be talked into an unfavorable settlement.
Get compensation for injury or damage – quickly and stress-free. We’ll assess your chances, devise a strategy and prepare a challenge. If necessary, we’ll file a claim and provide legal representation. We’ll stand up for you to the fullest.
A simple rule applies: “use by” is primarily related to safety, “best before” is primarily related to quality. Food with a ‘use by’ date must not be sold or used as raw material at all after the expiry date and if such a product is on sale, it is both a breach of the law and a defect in the goods against you. In the case of foods with a ‘best before’ date, they can be resold after the date has passed, subject to legal conditions, because they are still presumed to be safe, even though they may no longer have the ideal taste or smell. However, proper storage and your own senses are always a factor: what smells, changes colour, is bloated or mouldy belongs in the bin regardless of the date.
A similar logic applies to cosmetics, where either the best before date or the shelf life after opening is monitored. Here too, the manufacturer guarantees safety and functionality only up to a certain time, after which the risk of irritation or non-functionality of the product increases.
Whether it is food or cosmetics, as a buyer you have the right to safe, correctly labelled goods. Sales after the use-by date, unlabelled sales after the best before date, obviously spoiled products or confusing information on the packaging are defects that you can complain about or take up with the supervisory authorities. If a defective or dangerous product causes you health problems, you can claim compensation for medical costs, lost earnings or pain and suffering in addition to a refund.
Yes. The EU Regulation sets a minimum “x-height” font for mandatory information on packaging of at least 1.2 mm (0.9 mm for smaller packages).
The law does not set a specific limit on the number of days or months. The condition is that the food is still safe for consumption after the expiry date – the seller is responsible for this. In practice, shops often set internal limits (e.g. selling no more than a few weeks after the date).
Yes. During an inspection, the SZPI or another supervisory authority may want to see not only the physical condition of the goods on the shelves, but also the documentation of the HACCP system, internal regulations and records of the checks carried out.
The right of withdrawal within 14 days does not apply to distance contracts for food, especially perishable or short-life food – the law provides for an exception. In the case of durable foods with a longer minimum shelf life, the situation is assessed on a case-by-case basis and the specific nature of the goods is decisive. However, you always have the right to complain about defective or incorrectly delivered goods (e.g. spoiled products), regardless of the exception to the right to withdraw without giving a reason.
Liability may lie with the manufacturer, the retailer or another link in the supply chain – depending on where the fault occurred (e.g. defective batch, poor storage in the store, failure to maintain transport temperatures). However, it is often easiest for you as a consumer to contact the retailer from whom you bought the product in the first place. They can then seek compensation from their supplier or the manufacturer if they are responsible for the defect.
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Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 10 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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