Food businesses must ensure that all food received and stored in the food business is checked for best before and expiry dates. It is essential that food is not only handled and stored properly, but also used within the proper time frame.

Food should be stored using the First In, First Out (FIFO) method. The practices under this method include:

• ensuring items that are received first are used first
• moving items nearing their expiration date to the front of the shelves
• clearly labelling and dating containers if food items are not stored in their original packaging
• checking best before and expiry dates frequently

discarding any food items that show signs of spoilage.