Every Diwali, one box of soan papdi seems to travel from house to house, gifted, re-gifted and gifted again. Nobody checks the date. If you buy kaju katli in Uttar Pradesh this year, the tray it sits on now has to tell you one more thing. From 15 October 2026, UP's Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has made sweet shops display a "Use by Date" for their sweets, The Week reported.
That brings up a simple question: what is the difference between best before vs use by? Here is the short answer, from FSSAI's Labelling and Display Regulations:
- Best before is about quality. After this date, the food may still be perfectly safe to eat, but its quality may have gone down.
- Use by (or expiry) is about safety. After this date, the food may not be safe, and it must not be sold.
So if a packet says "use by", treat that date seriously. If it says "best before", you have a little more room, as long as the food still looks, smells and tastes right.
What is UP's new "Use By Date" rule for sweets?
Why now? The department said its inspections found cases where buyers were not told when sweets were made or when they expire, The Week reported. Packaged sweets already had to carry an expiry or use by date. The new rule brings the same date to the loose sweets behind the glass counter.
In the order, FSDA Commissioner Dr. Roshan Jacob said the shelf life of sweets depends on their type, and it can range from 1 to 30 days.
The shopkeeper or sweet maker decides the date. It has to be based on what the sweet is made of, how it is made and how it is stored, according to ETV Bharat.
This sits alongside a national FSSAI rule that applies across India, including UP: loose sweets have needed a "best before" date on the tray since 1 October 2020, Business Today reported. Our guide on how to check fake khoya and mithai covers that rule and how many days common sweets last.
Best before vs use by: which date actually matters?
A best before date marks the end of the period during which the food stays fully marketable and keeps any qualities it claims, if stored as the label says. "Beyond that date, the food may still be perfectly safe to consume, though, its quality may have diminished," the regulations say. Picture a packet of namkeen two weeks past its best before date. It may have gone a little soft. Not great, but not dangerous.
A use by or expiry date marks the point after which the product "may not remain safe", and the food "shall not be sold or distributed for human consumption." Now picture a box of milk barfi one day past its use by date. That is the one to leave alone.
Two catches:
- A best before date is not a free pass. The same regulation says a product must not be sold if it becomes unsafe at any stage, whatever the date says.
- Both dates assume the food was stored the way the label asks. A box of sweets left in a hot car for an afternoon may not last as long as its label says.
What should a packaged food label show by law?
For packaged food, FSSAI's labelling regulations say the "date of manufacture or packaging" and the "expiry/use by" date must be on the label. "Best before" is optional extra information. Apart from the dates, here is what else to look at:
The format of the date depends on shelf life. For food that lasts up to 3 months, the label must give the day, month and year. For longer shelf life, the month and year are enough. The two dates also have to be grouped together in one place, so you should not need to hunt around the box.
How do you check the date on Diwali gift boxes, namkeen and dry fruits?
Festive shopping is where labels get tricky. A few simple checks help:
- Mithai boxes: For packed sweets, look for the use by date on the box. For loose sweets, look at the tag on the tray before the shopkeeper starts filling your box. Once it is packed, that tag is gone.
- Namkeen: Big family packs get opened and closed for weeks. Follow any storage line printed on the pack, and close it tightly each time.
- Dry fruit hampers: Check the date on each packet inside, not just the decorated box. Different items in one hamper can have very different dates.
- Chocolate boxes: Tiny wrappers may not show a manufacturing date. FSSAI allows this for packs smaller than 30 square centimetres, but then the date must be on the bigger pack that holds them.
- Ghee and oil: These need a few extra checks of their own, covered in our post on food adulteration tests at home.
Some products do not need an expiry date at all. FSSAI's list includes sugar boiled confectionery (hard-boiled sweets), solid sugars and chewing gum. So if a pack of boiled sweets has no expiry date, that is allowed.
Ordering gift boxes online? The app may not show the date before you pay, so check it when the box arrives. Our quick commerce food safety checklist explains why, and what else to check at the door. And once the sweets are home, the label stops helping. Our guide on how long cooked food can be kept at room temperature covers the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Can you eat food after the best before date?
FSSAI says food may still be perfectly safe after the best before date, though its quality may have gone down. Check how it looks, smells and tastes. If anything seems off, throw it away.
Can you eat food after the use by or expiry date?
No. FSSAI defines the use by or expiry date as the point after which food may not remain safe, and it must not be sold after that date.
Is use by the same as expiry date?
Yes. FSSAI's labelling regulations treat "use by" and "expiry" as the same thing.
Is it okay to re-gift a box of sweets?
Only if you check the date first. The person you give it to may not open it for a few days, so a box close to its use by date is better eaten than passed on.
If you're putting together Diwali gift hampers this year, you can explore Amaayu's functional waters on our products page.
This article is general information, not medical advice.
