Danro Labels, Author at

Understanding Food Date Labels: A Guide for Consumers

When it comes to food date labels on food products, there are two main types that consumers should be familiar with: “Use By” and “Best Before” dates. By understanding the differnces between these labels, consumers can make informed decisions about the food they consume. Additionally, it’s important to be aware that “Display Until” and “Sell By” date labels hold little relevance for consumers and can often be confusing. Let’s delve into the details of each type of date label to shed light on their significance.

Use By Date Labels: Ensuring Safety

Use By labels (Buy here) are for foods that have a short shelf life, such as perishable items like meat products and pre-packaged salads. You’ll find these products stored in chilled cabinets at supermarkets and shops. It’s crucial to note that once the “use by” date has passed, even if the food appears and smells fine, it should not be consumed. Use By Lables purpose is for safety reasons, and consuming food beyond the use by date can pose health risks.

For the “use by” date to serve as a reliable guide, it’s essential to follow the storage instructions indicated on the packaging.” Incorrect storage can speed up the deterioration of food, increasing the risk of food poisoning. Freezing the food can extend the use by date. In such cases, the food should be consumed within 24 hours after thawing. Paying close attention to the instructions on the packaging is crucial to prevent food poisoning or rapid spoilage.

Best Before Date Labels: Quality Indicator

Best Before Labels (Buy here) show the expected quality of the food. Unlike use by labels, food is not deemed dangerous after the best before date has passed. This date serves as a guideline for when the food may start to lose its texture, or quality.

In most cases, consuming food a few days after the best before date should not pose any health problems. You will find best before labels on a variety of products, including frozen, dried, tinned, and other foods.

Watch out for eggs! It’s important to note that you should not consume eggs after their best before date. Eggs can harbor salmonella bacteria, which can multiply after this date.

The accuracy of best before dates is dependent on following the storage instructions provided on the label. Whether it’s “store in a cool, dry place” or “keep in the fridge once opened,” adhering to these instructions ensures that the food maintains its quality for the indicated duration.

Display Until/Sell By: Internal Management Labels

“Display Until” and “Sell By” dates serve as internal management and stock control measures. Unfortunately, these labels often lead to confusion among consumers, as some mistake them for best before or use by dates. The purpose of these labels is to assist staff in rotating stock and removing items from the shelves as they approach the end of their shelf life. By using these labels, businesses focus onitize the sale of older stock first.

By understanding the different types of date labels and their significance, consumers can make informed choices about the safety and quality of the food they consume. Adhering to use by dates for perishable items is crucial for ensuring food safety, while best before dates provide guidance on maintaining food quality. Remember to always follow the storage instructions on the packaging to maximize the freshness and safety of your food.

Why by Use By Labels and Best Before Labels from Danro

Quality: We provide you with quality products or services that meet your needs.
Price: We offer you competitive prices.
Delivery: We deliver your products or services on time and in the condition you expect.
Service: We provide you with excellent customer service. We respond to your inquiries and concerns, and go the extra mile to help you.
Relationship: We build a strong relationship with you. We do our best to understand your needs and work with you to find solutions that meet your requirements.

Call on 01332 865933 or fill in our Contact Form and we will get back to you ASAP!

If you are looking for a bespoke food labels, please call Natalie on 01332 865933 or use our contact form.

Egg box labelling follows a strict set of rules and regulations to convey and confirm consumer safety. This blog post aims to answer most of the areas you would need to know about so that you can ensure your eggs are labelled lawfully. Danro offers a range of labelling solutions to meet all of your egg box label needs.

Egg box labelling categories

There are several key categories that must be included in the labelling associated with eggs:

Producer and producer ID
Egg stamping explanation
Packing Station No.
Weight
Best Before Date
Class
Consumer Advice

There is a range of other associations or quality control bodies that provide further assurances for consumers that can be applied to egg box labelling. These are generally welfare and safety assurances to help consumers make a more informed choice about which eggs to purchase.

Egg Box Labelling: Producer and Producer ID

Eggs require a code that allows for proper scrutiny of production by the authorities to ensure public health. This information should include the location (address) for where the eggs are produced. This is imperative for all food consumption for public health enforcement. If there is a problem with infection of some sort, the authorities need to be able to trace production to source so they can address any issues with infection, contamination or production methods and prevent any further outbreak.

The egg box labelling code must include a producer ID number. In the UK, the producer ID number is supplied and kept on register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency. The rules are:

The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) Regulations 2003 require all laying hen establishments with 350 or more laying hens to be registered with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). This includes caged, barn, free range or organic egg-producing hens.

You must also register with APHA as a producer if:

you have 50 or more hens and any of your eggs are marketed at a local public market
any of your eggs are marketed to registered packing centres
If you sell eggs to shops or catering outlets, you must be approved and authorised as a packing centre by APHA so you can grade them as Class A eggs.

Registration is free. Your establishment will be allocated a number which is made up of:

a digit (0, 1 , 2 or 3) indicating the farming method
the country of origin ISO code
a unique identification number for the establishment
This number must be stamped on all eggs graded as Class A.

Egg Box Labelling: Egg Stamping Explanation

Egg box labelling includes “egg stamping”. This is a set code to describe everything needed for consumer protection. As explained above, it is made up of a production method code, a country of origin code (ISO country code) and a Producer ID, supplied by the Animal & Plant Health Agency.

So a code is [production method][Country of origin][Producer ID]

The production method falls into one of 4 categories:

0 Organic
1 Free-Range
2 Barn
3 Cage

The country origin is as per ISO country code – this is applied for all EU egg production, e.g UK for Unitied Kingdom, IE for Irelaned, DE for Germany, FR for France etc. etc.

As mentioned above, the Producer ID is supplied upon registration application by the producer to the Animal & Plant Health Agency. This number will be unique to the production unit.

There must be a statement on your egg box labelling to explain this to consumers. This is included in our Egg Box Labels available from our shop.

The statement will normally read:
Egg Stamping Explanation: 0 = Organic, 1 = Free Range, 2 = Barn, 3 = Caged, UK = Origin, 9999 = Producer ID.

Egg Box Labelling: Packing Station No.

Where eggs are packed for sale to the public (subject to the criteria found on the APHA website), they will need to have a packing station number. This will be supplied by APHA and must be displayed prominently on the packaging.

If you are packing eggs supplied from another egg producer, you will need to stamp the eggs with their details and label your product with the packing station number. This is for infection control purposes for public health.

Egg Box Labelling: Weight

Eggs can be sold in mixed weight and this must be made clear on the packaging. Where eggs are graded by size, the weight is classified as follows:
Very Large: 73g +over
Large: 63 – 73g
Medium: 53 – 63g
Small: 53g + under

Egg Box Labelling: Best Before Date

Eggs should be labelled with a best before date. The date applied depends on how the eggs are stored. Eggs refrigerated once sold to the consumer are best used within 3 weeks. Unrefrigerated eggs will lose their quality sooner.

Once refrigerated, eggs should be kept refrigerated until used. It is not advisable to refrigerate eggs then unrefrigerated them as their shelf life and quality will reduce dramatically. The consumer advice (see below) recommends eggs are refrigerated after purchase.

Egg Box Labelling: Class

We specialise in producing labels for eggs destined for human consumption. Eggs fall into 3 classes:

Class A: They are naturally clean, fresh eggs, internally perfect with shells intact and the air sac not exceeding 6mm in depth. The yolk must not move away from the centre of the egg on rotation. Grade A eggs are sold as shell eggs.
Class B: These are shelled eggs. They are pasteurised and this type of egg is normally used in commercial food production.
Industrial: These are used for non-food application such as pharmaceutical or cosmetics such as soaps and shampoos.

Egg Box Labelling: Consumer Advice

Egg box labelling should include consumer advice on how to store eggs, as well as the explanation of the egg type. By that, we mean whether they are organic, free range, barn or caged. Organic eggs must also be free range and are the highest standard of eggs in terms of animal welfare.

The statement should read:
Consumer Advice: Keep refrigerated after purchase.

Egg Box Labelling: Consumer Assurance and Welfare Declarations

There are a number of welfare and consumer associations that may be suitable to enhance the image and quality of your product. Egg production has had a bad rap for treating birds poorly in the past. There are a number of bodies that will give assurance regarding the quality of husbandry your birds may be received.

The Lion Logo is applicable to some 90% of UK egg production. This scheme is designed to ensure a code of practice amongst egg producers to limit the risk of salmonella in flocks and reduce the risk of salmonella contamination in eggs. More information can be found here.

Other major assurance programs include the Soil Association, RSPCA and Freedom Foods.

Do you need egg box labels? You can order what you need directly here or call Natalie now on 01332 865933 to start your order – or complete our online form and we will call you back.

Author: Danro Labels

Food Date Labels: Use By Labels & Best Before Labels Explained