How long roughly can you keep bread after the best before date?

Question

i know bread can become mouldy fast, but how many days can you keep it roughly for, after the best before date? the store 'sell by' or 'display until' is usually labelled as 2 or 3 days before the 'best before' on any loaf of bread. i am wondering how long you can keep bread for even after this, if the bread still tastes fine with no obvious mould/bacteria growth? its a 'best before' date found labelled on all bread, and not a 'use by' date, found on more perishable potentially more dsangerous products such as meat and dairy

im sure eating foods long after the best before date could prob give you a dodgy stomach, but nothing on the level of anything eaten after a use by date...

can i keep bread up to around a week after the best before? should i only discard it when it tastes odd and/or visibly starts to gain a mind of its own? thanks for any info, bread experts! :D

Answer 1

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near the best before date, you should have a number next to it and that means you can keep the bread that many days after the best before date.

Answer 2

Until it goes mouldy. I have a friend who lives on out of date food, she works in a super market, and is a fit as a fiddle!

Answer 3

bread is very susceptible to humid and warm conditions.

So, keep it cool and dry and its good for up to a week.

mould appears very quickly on bread so "eat it until its green"

Home made bread seems to last longer, i'd of thought it was opposite but this does not seem to be the case in our experience.

Answer 4

Yes, you can keep bread for at least a week after the 'best before' date if you store it properly. Keep bread airtight in a dry place and it will stay fresh longer. Humidity promotes the growth of bacteria and mould.

You can also put your bread in the freezer. I often buy 2 or 3 loaves at a time and store a couple in the freezer. Be aware though that once you thaw the bread out, it can dry out and become stale quicker.

Source(s):

6 years of bakery experience.

Answer 5

Well, surely I think that you could eat bread a week after it has passed the 'sell by' date. I would dispose of it if it starts to taste or look odd within the week.
For Dairy products its ok to eat or drink 2-3 days after expiration.
But trust me, its not very nice to eat yoghurt when it had expired for 2 or more weeks.
If you have the time, you could conduct your own experiment to see for yourself.

Answer 6

1.If you store the bread the right place it will last longer
2.If its uncut it was last longer
3.If u don't leave out it out without being paxkaged it will last longer

hope that helped!

Answer 7

Not v. long I must say, about one to 3 days really. But if you put it in the freezer, this prolongs the bread's shelf life so it can last a bit longer, and yes, if the bread tastes fine and looks fine with no mould/bacteria growth, then yes I think it's fine to eat the bread. And also if you heat it/toast the bread, it can kill any potentially hidden/'invisible' bacteria growth in the bread. If you want to keep the bread up to a week after the best before date, then you really gotta put it in the freezer right from the start, and take out a few slice, a few hrs before you want to eat it, to let it defrost naturally. I'm not a bread expert, but if it's been more than a week after the best before date and deosn't seem to taste or look odd, I would still discard it, as you never know if there's any microscopic bacteria/fungi in it, and it's always best to be safe than sorry!!!

Answer 8

manufacturers only use bb dates to keep them selves right so u have a few days !! u wont get sick with bread until it has that mould

Answer 9

The first thing I do when I buy a loaf of bread is put it in the freezer. Then, as I need it, I take out a slice or two - it thaws in about 2 minutes, and it's as soft as when I bought it. It will stay good in your freezer probably long past the time it takes you to eat it all:)

Answer 10

Bread is OK until it goes green, some bread makes better eating when it is stale, but when I bake my bread, the kitchen gets invaded by "Old Pals" who just happen to drop in and are a little hungry. I don't know if mine is good when stale, it never has the chance... You can always cut the green bits off if the shops are shut, after all its only penicillin

Answer 11

You can keep it as long as you want, mould is a spoilage bacteria not a food poisoning bacteria. Food safety isn't the issue with bread, it's the way it tastes. Obviously, if you have a cloud of green dust when you pick it up, it needs to be thrown away.
Isn't mouldy bread the way blue cheese was in vented?

Answer 12

I have worked in a store when I was younger and have learned that the "best before" date is just a general guideline as to when the bread will become too old to eat. This guideline helps you decide whether or not the bread will be fresh long enough for you and also helps the store to know when they should put it on sale if there are too much bread left close to the "best before" date.
But when the label is marked "expiry date" instead of "best before" then it means that after that date you should not eat it.
With bread it's always "best before" and if the bread is still not mouldy or stale a few days after the "best before" date, then it's perfectly safe to eat.