Date Marking of Food

An important consumer protection component of the food labelling laws is that certain products are required to have a date mark on the label. Depending on the food item, the date mark will enable consumers to determine the relative freshness of the food and this will be important, particularly when dealing with short shelf life items such as milk and other dairy products or infant formula.

Under the Food Standards Code packaged products, with some exceptions, are required to show either of the following:

• "Best before date" if the food has a shelf life of less than two years, or
• "Use by date" if the food is considered a risk for health or safety reasons.

Generally food items with a short shelf life of less than 7 days will carry a "use by date" and it will be an offence for a food business to sell food beyond the specified date. Business operators are therefore encouraged to regularly check the "use by date" on food items particularly in refrigerators, cool rooms and freezers.

The exceptions to date marking requirements include individual portions of ice cream or ice confection and food in packages of less than 100 square centimetres. Bread with a shelf life of less than 7 days can have a "baked on" date.