Food safety at home
Just over half said they followed use by dates all the time and a third followed them depending on the food type. A few followed sometimes, and very few never follow use-by dates.
| Frequency | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 | W20 July 2025 | W19 December 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Sometimes | 10% | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| Yes, depending on the food type | 35% | 34% | 34% | 31% |
| Yes, always | 53% | 54% | 54% | 55% |
The main reasons for this relate to reducing food waste, they believe the food is safe to eat or they’ve not been ill in the past.
| Reason for not following use-by or best before | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 | W20 July 2025 | W19 December 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To reduce food waste | 44% | 43% | 49% | 44% |
| Food is safe to consume after this date | 36% | 30% | 33% | 33% |
| I have never got ill so I am happy to take the risk | 23% | 27% | 21% | 22% |
| I don’t think use-by dates are important | 14% | 19% | 19% | 15% |
| Unsure/Don’t know | 16% | 17% | 14% | 11% |
| I don’t trust use-by dates | 14% | 12% | 11% | 16% |
| I only stick to best before dates | 9% | 12% | 6% | 9% |
| Other | 6% | 6% | 5% | 6% |
| I didn’t know there was a use-by date on certain food products | 7% | 2% | 8% | 6% |
| I don’t purchase food with use-by dates | 5% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| I can find use-by dates difficult to read on food packaging | 7% | n/a | n/a | n/a |