'Best before', 'use by', 'expired'... One of them can be resold legally, but is it safe?

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) is going after retailers selling 'expired food', failing to distinguish between foods with 'Use By' dates and those with 'Best Before' dates. The law does not apply equally.

The NCC calls them 'compliance inspections'; to ensure that unsafe and expired goods (goods that have passed their shelf-life) are removed from the shelves.

The first stop is the 'Capricorn District Municipality' in Limpopo.

The NCC has joined forces with the Departments of Labour, Health and Home Affairs (Immigration Office), South African Police Services, Environmental Health Practitioners, and Waste Management under Capricorn District Municipality to inspect various retailers in that province.

"The team discovered that there is widespread non-compliance, especially of goods that have passed their sell-by, use-by or best-before dates. The non-compliant goods were duly removed from the shelves and confiscated: baby food, sweets, cool drinks, noodles, snacks, tinned foodstuff, juices, and other consumables, with the potential of causing harm and compromising the health of consumers.

“There is an equally reprehensible practice that the inspection uncovered which is the retention of the goods past date markings and continuing to sell them to consumers at 'discount prices'."

These suppliers are self-serving and not driven by consumer interest, says Knowler.

No 'discount' is worth the health or well-being of consumers, she says.

Section 55 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) provides that every consumer has a right to safe, quality goods that comply with applicable standards or public regulations.

The NCC, once again, has not distinguished between the two very different types of date marks on food products - the best-before date on shelf-stable foods and the use-by date on perishable foods.

It is not illegal to sell goods which have passed their best-before dates. There is no safety risk in that.

It is a QUALITY issue - e.g. the biscuits may get a bit soft or the flavour may not be as intense. Any food scientist will confirm that. So confiscating those goods is illegal and tantamount to theft. The term is BEST-before… as the goods are at their best until this date, and the quality will then slowly diminish.

To demonise these foods and the retailers who choose to sell them is highly irresponsible, depriving consumers of perfectly safe food at reduced cost and contributing to food waste which is a major global issue.

On the other hand, selling perishable foods past their USE BY dates is illegal, and presents a food SAFETY risk.

The term is clear: USE BY a particular date and not after.

Knowler spoke to Prudence Moilwa, head of the NCC’s Head: Complaints and Investigations.

She used the words 'toxic' and 'rotten' a lot, even when talking about shelf-stable foods with best-before dates.

The cases of shelf-stable foods being confiscated were extreme, she said, such as dented cans with a 'sell by date' - she meant 'BEST BEFORE' - of January 2023.

The lining of the cans starts to degrade after the BB date, she said, and then the food interacts with the can and becomes toxic.

Knowler has spoken to several food scientists with experience in the canning of goods and found Moilwa's explanation was a radical exaggeration of the facts.

A canning production expert told me that she would happily eat canned food a year to 18 months after its BB date, provided the can was not bloated or leaking, which would indicate that the lining had been compromised.

“In many countries, including Brazil, the government has a team of scientists assess canned food near its BB dates and if it’s fine, as it almost always is, it gets the okay to be sold (discounted) to avoid food waste.”

Canned foods most likely to have issues - long after their BB date - are tomato-based and fruit-based. Meat and fish are fine, says Dave Bester from Foodies.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.