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Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Food Safety & Hygiene

Use-by date

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

/ˈjuːz baɪ deɪt/nounCore term

In culinary arts & cooking, use-by date means: The date on a food label after which the food should not be eaten, cooked or served for safety reasons, even if it looks and smells fine.

In Turkish: son tüketim tarihi, STT

How it is used

Found on high-risk chilled foods such as fresh meat, fish and dairy. Kitchens also write their own use-by dates on labels for food they prepare. A best-before date is about quality, not safety.

Example sentences

  1. This chicken is past its use-by date. Throw it away and log it.

  2. Every container in the fridge needs a label with a use-by date.

Common collocations

  • past its use-by date
  • check the use-by date
  • use-by date label
  • within the use-by date
  • FIFOFirst in, first out: a stock rotation rule that older stock is used before newer deliveries, so that food does not go out of date.
  • foodborne illnessAny illness caused by eating food or drink contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or toxins. In everyday English it is usually called food poisoning.
  • HACCPHazard Analysis and Critical Control Points: a food safety system that identifies the points where food could become unsafe and sets checks and limits to control them.
  • walk-inA large refrigerated room that staff can walk into, used to store bulk food. Short for walk-in fridge, cooler or freezer.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Food Safety & Hygiene

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