A savvy mum revealed a supermarket secret that could change the way you shop for groceries, potentially extending the shelf-life of your purchases.
Gemma Bird, known to her followers as @Moneymum and celebrated as a Sunday Times bestselling author, has taken to social media to share her insider knowledge on how to select items that will stay fresh for longer.
While most shoppers are accustomed to checking ‘best before’ dates to ensure they’re getting the freshest produce, some items like certain fresh vegetables don’t carry these dates.
However, Gemma shared a lesser-known code that can be found on packaging which serves as an indicator of freshness. In a recent TikTok video, the money-saving guru asked her audience if they were keen to “know a hack for buying fresher food”.
She then pointed out a code, F15, on a packet of leeks, explaining the letter corresponds to the month with ‘F’ representing June, the sixth month, and the number indicating the day of the month.
Therefore, the leeks with the code F15 would have a ‘best before’ date of June 15.
She added: “The F is the month. So June is F, as that is month six. January would be A. Then the number is the day in that month. So in that case, the best before date on the leeks would be June 15.”
Best before means the food will be on its best quality until then, not necessarily that it’s no longer safe to eat. Best before dates are usually displayed on items that don’t require refrigeration or freezing, such as dry pasta, bread, tinned products, fruits or vegetables.
Many were thankful to finally find out what the codes mean, as one person wrote: “OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I always get so confused! When I see those letter and numbers I never knew what was it about and ended throwing them because unsure.” Another added: “Goodness thank you I had no idea what this meant on packaging!”
A third said: “It’s to reduce food waste, this way people won’t freak out that their carrot is one day past its best before date. Only foods that are obvious when perished are given these codes.”
