We all want to be sure that the food we’re eating is as fresh and high-quality as possible, but the labels and rules can be pretty confusing and hard to interpret.
If you’re shopping at Australia’s biggest supermarket then you will want to know all about Woolworths’ expired food policy.
At Woolworths, perishable food is labelled with a ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date, which mean slightly different things. You cannot return food that has expired since you bought it, but you can return food you weren’t happy with on the purchase date under their Fresh or Free Guarantee.
What Do Woolworths’ Food Labels Mean?
The first thing that we need to figure out in order to understand what the deal is with expired food at Woolworths is what the different dates that you might encounter actually mean.
On all of the food that can expire over time at Woolworths, you will find one of two labels: a ‘use by’ date or a ‘best before’ date. Legally, ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ have different meanings in Australia and can help you to figure out whether or not the food is likely to be edible and of good quality.
The other labels you might see are ‘baked on’ or ‘baked for’ dates, which are specifically used for bread.
Best Before
This date is more of a general guideline than a safety concern, and it refers mostly to the quality and freshness that you can expect. Simply put: before this date, the food is likely to be at its best and, after this date, it might not be.
It may still be perfectly safe to eat food after its ‘best before’ date has passed, but you might notice that the texture, taste, and quality are not as good as you might expect.
These dates are generally used for food products that are not expected to expire too quickly or are less likely to become dangerous to your health.
Use By
This is the more important and legally strict of the two dates you might see. After the ‘use by’ date, it is no longer recommended that you consume the food for health and safety reasons, as it may cause illness or harm – which includes food poisoning.
Once this date has passed, you should throw the food away rather than take any chances.
This label is used for foods that are highly perishable and considered at a higher risk of expiring. Although it might still look and smell fine, it could contain harmful bacteria that might make you seriously ill.
Baked On/Baked For
This is just the date on which the bread was baked. A ‘baked for’ date can be applied to bread that was baked any time after midday on the day before it was placed on the shelves, while a ‘baked on’ date has to refer to the day it was actually put in the oven.
These dates give you an idea of how fresh the bread might be, but not much more than that.
They are not strict labels telling you when the food will no longer be edible or at peak quality; for that, you’ll want to look for the ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ dates.
Do Expiry Dates Matter?
There are a lot of misconceptions and some general confusion around food expiry dates around the world, as they can be pretty vague and the science behind them is not particularly strict in every country.
The official guidance from Food Standards Australia ; New Zealand states that all food needs to be marked with either a ‘best before’ or ‘use by’ date, unless the ‘best before’ date would be over two years from when it was actually packaged.
- Best Before Dates: Legally, this must mean that the food is still fully marketable before this date, and fulfils any claims that have been made about it (for example, how fresh it is, the flavour it will have, and its texture).
- Use By Dates: This means that the food is considered no longer safe for consumption and cannot be sold once this date has passed.
Unlike in some other countries, it is illegal for a supermarket to sell food that has gone beyond its ‘use by’ date – and it is up to the suppliers rather than the stores to decide when these dates are.
This makes the labelling a lot more clear and less open to interpretation and manipulation than it can be elsewhere in the world.
Can You Return Expired Food To Woolworths?
If you have some food that has gone beyond its ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date, then you might want to take it back to the store for something a little fresher, but is that possible?
Well, it depends on when you purchased the item.
If the food was within its ‘use by’ and/or ‘best before’ date when you picked it up off the shelf – and it was otherwise high quality and you were happy with it – then you cannot take it back for a refund or an exchange after it then expires.
It would be illegal for Woolworths to sell you any food that had already passed its ‘use by’ date, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
If that did happen, though, you could expect at least a full refund – if not more!
Woolworths’ Fresh or Free Guarantee
There is a pretty helpful policy in place for when you’re not happy with the standard of the food that you buy from Woolworths, which is their Fresh or Free Guarantee.
Under this guarantee, you can get a full refund for unpackaged food that is sold in their Fresh departments, or any packaged food that has the Fresh or Free symbol on it, if you’re not satisfied with its quality on the day it was purchased. Not only that, but you are also able to get a fresh replacement at no extra cost.
This guarantee even applies to online purchases, although there are some exclusions for very particular circumstances.
If you can’t get a replacement due to a lack of availability, they will even give you credit for how much the item was worth, on top of your full refund!
Can I Exchange At Woolworths Without A Receipt?
It can be a little trickier to get any kind of refund or exchange at Woolworths if you don’t have proof of purchase with you.
Without a receipt, they will usually offer you a Woolworths return card with the value of your purchase on it, but they are allowed to deny this at their own discretion if you can’t prove that the item was bought at one of their stores.
If they do accept the exchange, then you will need to present proof of ID that shows your name, address, and signature.
Summary
So, what is Woolworths’ expired food policy? Woolworths label all of their perishable food with either a ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date.
The ‘best before’ date is when it will stop being at peak quality but may still be edible, while the ‘use by’ date refers to when the food is no longer safe to eat.
It is illegal for Woolworths to sell food that has passed its ‘use by’ date, but they offer a full refund and a fresh replacement for any food that you are not 100% happy with on the day that you bought it.
References
https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/labelling/dates/Pages/default.aspx