Best before when - explanation please!!

We have two tins of biscuits which were not eaten at Christmas which are BB July 2020.

DH thinks we should eat them and I think we should keep them until Easter.

We have thrown out a couple of vitamin tablets which were BB 2014 today, but if they were BB 2018 would probably take them.

I have my eye on a BB 2017 jar of caramel sauce in the cupboard and think I should test it.
It's sugar, isn't it?

I agree that the UseBy date is the only one that matters. Anything tinned or sealed will be fine for years. Possibly some spices will lose a bit of intensity but that is ok by me. There is far too much food waste.

At a talk by the manager of a local factory producing yogurts we were told that if unopened and kept refrigerated yogurts had a much longer life than indicated on the labels. Yesterday I enjoyed one labelled best before 10 February with no ill effects and no change to the taste. A small blow for reducing food waste!

I find the, "Use by", instruction even more annoying. Do they mean use before the date they give or at some time during that day?

Usually it smells OK for several days after.

I take no notice of "best before" dates. They just mean that they "may not" taste as good as if you ate them before that date. I always use tins, dried goods, cakes, biscuits, crisps etc even if they date has expired. No food poisoning has ever occurred as a result. I have a packet of couscous in the cupboard where the use by date is over a year ago. I'm taking it to work tomorrow for my lunch

I use things without looking at dates if the look ok smell ok and taste ok they are ok Another reason I don’t buy for the store cupboard of more than two weeks they get forgotten and wasted

Heaven knows what UK L3 1R means - presumably stockists of Uncle Ben's Spicy Mexican Rice would know and store and reorder it accordingly
Elegran I think that’s probably to do with traceability, indicating which factory the rice was packaged in or even the supplier.
So that in the event of food poisoning or more likely, weevils being found in the rice, they would know which stocks to recall.

If something hasn't been opened I would use it whatever the date.

I used a best-before 2018 jar of flavouring for grains the other day. It tasted fine and we’re still standing!

yggdrasil beat me to it - ignore "best before" dates, the only thing you need to keep an eye on is the use by date, and even then, use a bit of common sense as to whether something can still be used or not.

The best before date is irrelevant. It it for the store workers to know when to take it off the shelf.
The only useful date is Use By.
And if your rice was a packet and dry, I would have used it.

Thank you Elegran and quizqueen - just as well I ditched it. Didn't think it had been that long since I had a clear out!
Absolutely Trendy that's what I find so annoying. There really should be a standardised format. I am on a campaign now!

The thing that annoys me more than anything is I have to get the magnifying glass out to see half the dates at all, I’m turning everything round and round looking for these dates, and thinking how on Earth do people with really poor eyesight even find these dates

Is it 29th of April 2018? No idea what 16:28 is!

I would interpret that best-before date as the 29th day of the 4th month (April) of the year 2018, kaycee, so you were right to bin it. The <16:28> is probably the time at which the jar was labelled, probably on a day exactly the appropriate day before the best before date. Heaven knows what UK L3 1R means - presumably stockists of Uncle Ben's Spicy Mexican Rice would know and store and reorder it accordingly.

I imagine their machinery is set up to calculate the figures and stamp them on. Gaps between the day, month and year would help make it clearer. Perhaps they will take note of your email and change.