Best Before vs Use By: What Those Dates Actually Mean for South African Shoppers

One question we get more than any other at Looters Warehouse is the same one, in slightly different words: "Is this still okay to eat?" It is a fair thing to ask. South African food labels carry two completely different kinds of date, and the manufacturers themselves rarely explain the difference. So before you walk into our Retreat store and spot a tin of tomatoes at a price that looks too good to be true, here is exactly what those dates on the label mean - and what they do not.

Best Before is about quality

The Best Before date is the manufacturer's guideline. It tells you the period during which the product will retain the same taste, colour and texture it had when it was packaged. That is it.

It is not a safety date. It does not mean the food becomes harmful the next day, or the next week, or the next month. It means that, at some point past that date, the manufacturer is no longer guaranteeing the product will taste exactly as new.

In practice, dry, tinned and shelf-stable foods stored properly in a cool, dry place often remain perfectly safe and pleasant to eat for months - sometimes years - past the Best Before date. The contents of a sealed tin cannot become rotten or spoiled if the seal is intact and the can has been kept at room temperature. There is a long-running independent reference at stilltasty.com if you want to look up specific products.

Looters stocks Best Before items. That is our model. We buy stock that is close to or just past Best Before, plus surplus stock, in large quantities at deeply discounted prices, and pass the saving on to you.

Use By is about safety

The Use By date is a different animal entirely. You will see it on fresh meat, ready-to-eat meals, and certain dairy and deli products. It is set on the assumption the food has been refrigerated correctly, and once you pass it, the manufacturer is saying the product is no longer considered safe to consume - even if it looks and smells fine.

Looters does not stock Use By items at all. Ever. There is no version of our business model where we sell something past its safety date, and there never has been.

Why our prices are so low

Three reasons, all of them mundane:

• Close-to-date stock. A tin of beans with two months of Best Before life left has the same nutritional value, taste and safety as one with twelve months left, but the supermarket chain doesn't want it. We do.
• Just-past-date stock. Same product, same safety, same taste. Now sitting in our warehouse at a fraction of retail.
• Surplus stock. Production overruns, discontinued lines, last season's promotional packs. Nothing wrong with the product - just commercially awkward for the original retailer.

The savings come from the supply side. We pass them on. We do not cut corners on what is in the tin.

What we guarantee

Every product we sell is guaranteed. If you get something home and you are not happy, bring it back within 7 days with your till slip and we will refund you. The full Looters refund policy is on our About Us page, but the short version is: we stand behind everything that leaves our shelves.

How to shop a clearance grocery store sensibly

A few practical things we tell first-time customers:

• Check the date - we put the date on every item, exactly so you can decide. There is nothing hidden.
• Shop for the way you actually eat. If you go through tinned tomatoes weekly, stock up. If you bought one in 2019 and it is still in the cupboard, maybe just buy one.
• Storage matters. A cool, dry pantry preserves the original taste and texture far longer than a hot kitchen shelf above the stove.
• Trust your senses. If a tin is bulging, leaking or rusted, do not eat it - that is true regardless of the date. Otherwise, a sealed tin is a sealed tin.

Branches and how to order

Our main store is Block 3, South Palms Centre, 10 Celie Road, Retreat, Cape Town. Trading hours and our second branch in Somerset West and the Durban North store are on the contact page. You can also order on WhatsApp on 066 237 1256 or phone 021 224 0915 and we will pack and quote for collection or delivery.

Top brands, massive savings, fully guaranteed - that has been the Looters model since 2018, and the date on the tin has not changed it once.