FIFO stock rotation: UK law, FEFO, use-by dates and real cases

FIFO stock rotation (first in, first out) means using your oldest stock before your newest, so food gets used while it's still in date. In a UK food business it's how you meet the legal rule that food past its use-by date is treated as unsafe and can't be sold or served.

FIFO stock rotation at a glance

• FIFO isn't named in any UK food law. The duty is about the dates, and FIFO is the method the FSA and Food Standards Scotland tell you to use.
• After its use-by date, food is "deemed to be unsafe" in law. Supplying it is an offence under the General Food Regulations 2004 in Great Britain and the NI version of those rules.
• FEFO (first expired, first out) is the better rule when two batches of the same product carry different dates. Neither the FSA's nor FSS's guidance uses the term.
• Food frozen on or before its use-by date can be used later, but only if you can show when it was frozen. Label it.
• Fines in England and Wales are unlimited in the magistrates' court, and directors can be fined personally.

What is FIFO stock rotation?

FIFO means the stock that came in first goes out first. When a delivery arrives, the new stock goes to the back of the shelf or the bottom of the pile, and the older stock moves to the front where people grab it. The FSA's Safer food, better business stock control sheet (SFBB for caterers, published on GOV.UK 29 January 2020) puts it this way: "Follow the 'first in, first out' system of stock rotation, so that older stock is used first. This helps to avoid waste."

Scotland's CookSafe stock control guidance from Food Standards Scotland says the same: "stock should be rotated on a first-in-first-out basis and damaged stock removed from the main storage area." It also defines the wider job: "Stock control is a term used to describe the measures taken to ensure that food is not kept beyond its shelf life."

FIFO vs FEFO

FEFO means first expired, first out. You use whatever has the earliest date, whenever it arrived. Most of the time FIFO and FEFO give the same answer, because older stock usually has the earlier date. They split when a newer delivery has a shorter date than what's already on the shelf. That happens with a different supplier, a short-dated batch, or stock moved over from another site.

When that happens, go by the date. The law bites on the use-by date, not on arrival day, so a FIFO rule followed blindly can leave you with in-date new stock in use while older-delivered but shorter-dated stock runs out of date at the back. A food safety manager on the IFSQN forum put it well back in 2011: "You should not follow FIFO blindly but have responsibilities and a defined system for checking codes on stock coming in and stock going out".

We found no UK food law, FSA guidance or FSS guidance that uses the term FEFO. SFBB and CookSafe both say first in, first out. So FEFO is good practice, not a named requirement. FIFO is the habit. The date is what gets checked.

Which item do I use first?

Is stock rotation a legal requirement?

No UK law says "rotate your stock". The law says what can't happen: food past its use-by date can't be sold or served. Rotation is how you stop it happening.

Three pieces of law do the work:

1. The date makes the food unsafe. Article 24 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers (kept in UK law) says: "After the 'use by' date a food shall be deemed to be unsafe in accordance with Article 14(2) to (5) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002." That rule has applied since 13 December 2014.
2. Unsafe food can't be supplied. Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the General Food Law, says: "Food shall not be placed on the market if it is unsafe."
3. Breaking Article 14 is an offence. In Great Britain, regulation 4 of the General Food Regulations 2004 makes it an offence to break Article 14(1). In Northern Ireland it's regulation 4 of the General Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004. Both have been in force since 1 January 2005.

Article 14 has a batch rule too. If one item in a batch is unsafe, "it shall be presumed that all the food in that batch, lot or consignment is also unsafe" unless a detailed check shows otherwise. One out-of-date pack on a shelf can put the whole delivery in question.

There's a hygiene duty as well. Annex II, Chapter IX of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 says: "Raw materials and all ingredients stored in a food business are to be kept in appropriate conditions designed to prevent harmful deterioration and protect them from contamination." Stock left to sit until it goes off fails that test even if it's still in date.

What's the difference in each UK nation?

The 2004 regulations extend to Great Britain, so England, Wales and Scotland share one offence. Northern Ireland has its own set with the same structure.

Use-by vs best before

The two dates look alike and mean different things. GOV.UK's guide to best before and use-by dates says: "Use-by dates relate to the safety of food, whereas best before dates relate to quality." The maker picks which one goes on the pack, and the law tells them when. Article 24 says a use-by goes on food that is "highly perishable" from a microbiological point of view.

The FSA's food bank and charity guidance (updated 28 August 2026) says it plainly for both: "You can supply food after the best before date, but the food may not meet the quality expected by the consumer." And: "It is an offence to supply food after the use-by date. If the date has already expired, throw it away."

Best before food is usually frozen, dried or tinned stuff, plus cheese. GOV.UK's examples are "frozen foods (for example peas, chips and ice cream) dried foods (for example pasta and rice) tinned foods (for example baked beans and canned tomatoes) cheese". It still needs rotating. A dented can or a damp bag of rice can be unfit before its date.

The use-by day itself is the last day. SFBB's opening and closing checks include: "Food on its Use By date has been thrown away." So if it's on its date at close, it goes.

Can you freeze food before its use-by date?

Yes. GOV.UK says: "You can eat food after the use-by date if it was cooked or frozen on or before the use-by date." Once defrosted, "you need to use it within 24 hours."

The catch is proof. If a council officer finds a frozen chicken breast with a use-by date that's gone, you have to show it went in the freezer in time. SFBB says: "If you freeze food, have a system in place to make sure it is clearly labelled with the date it is frozen." It also explains why the label matters for rotation: "If labelling is not clear on frozen food, new stock might be used before old stock." The Merthyr Tydfil butcher in the cases below was convicted partly because it couldn't produce that proof.

How to rotate stock, step by step

At delivery

Rotation starts at the back door. If stock's already a problem when it arrives, don't sign for it. SFBB says to check that each delivery is "within its 'use by' date", "has been kept cold enough", "has not gone off" and is undamaged: "throw away any punctured vacuum packs, swollen packs or badly dented cans". CookSafe adds that "incoming food must not be accepted if its 'use by' date has expired", and that "you may also wish to consider rejecting stock beyond its 'best before' date". There's more on this in our food delivery check guide.

Putting it away

1. Put chilled and frozen stock away first.
2. Pull the old stock forward.
3. Put the new stock behind or under it. Never on top.
4. Where dates differ from what you'd expect, put the earliest date at the front (FEFO).
5. Move damaged stock out of the main store, as CookSafe says.

Fridges and walk-ins

Chilled food is where use-by dates sit, so it's where rotation matters most. Keep one product type together so the dates sit side by side. Make your own prepared food follow the same rule. SFBB's chilled storage sheet says that "High risk ready to eat foods should be kept for a maximum of 3 days in total (day of cook/opening + 2) unless you have evidence that it is safe to keep them for longer." Our safe food storage guide covers the shelf order.

Freezers

Label everything you freeze with the date it went in. Keep the oldest labels at the top or front. Once a month, go through the freezer for unlabelled bags. Those are the ones you can't defend. There's more in our freezer temperature check guide.

Dry stores

Don't top up. CookSafe says dried food "should not be topped up with new stock. Ensure that the existing food is used first". Topping up mixes old and new, and a tub that never empties never gets cleaned.

Order less

Honestly, the easiest fix is to hold less stock. SFBB says "Not having too much stock is best for food safety – and your profits" and tells you to "Do a stock check before placing an order." If you've over-ordered something perishable, it suggests freezing some, following the maker's freezing instructions.

Labelling decanted, opened and prepared food

Once food leaves its pack, the maker's label goes with it, and so does your proof of the date. SFBB says: "If you move food from its original packaging to another container, make sure you make a note of the name of the food, the ingredients and the 'use by' or 'best before' date."

CookSafe goes further for high-risk food: it "should be re-labelled with a new suitable 'use by' date, based on manufacturer's instructions". Many packs say "once opened, use within X days", and that new date can come before the printed one. Use whichever is sooner.

A workable label has:

• what it is
• the date made, opened or defrosted
• the use-by date you've worked out
• who did it

Our date labelling guide has examples.

Allergens in stock control

Allergen mistakes often start in the store room. If you decant food, you lose the ingredients list unless you copy it. That's why SFBB asks you to note "the ingredients" when you decant. CookSafe says to "keep food that can cause allergic reaction separate from other foods. It is vital not to lose the product description and traceability following unpacking, decanting and storage."

Rotation causes a second risk: running out. When a product runs out and someone grabs a substitute, the allergens can change. SFBB says: "If you have to use a substitution for an ingredient, check the allergen information is correct." A replacement brand of pesto, stock cube or bread can contain nuts, milk or sesame that the old one didn't. Tell front of house before service. Our allergen management guide covers the 14 allergens and the matrix.

What records does an inspector expect?

No law lists a stock rotation record. But a due diligence defence (below) depends on showing a system, and the cases show that councils look for it. SFBB tells you to "Record stock checks in the diary".

A good set of records shows:

• delivery checks, including rejected items
• a daily date check, often at close
• what you threw away and why
• freezer labels with the date frozen
• staff trained on rotation, with dates

Our stock rotation training checklist gives you a ready agenda and a sign-off sheet for that training.

The Hertfordshire case below turned on this. The council found "the business did not have a sufficient process for checking the dates on food items and had no records of staff training."

Who is liable, and what are the penalties?

The business that supplies the food commits the offence. That's usually the company, or the sole trader. Under section 36 of the Food Safety Act 1990, applied by regulation 7 of the 2004 regulations, a director or manager is guilty too if the offence happened with their "consent or connivance" or was "attributable to any neglect" on their part. That applies in Great Britain. We found no equivalent bodies-corporate provision in the list of articles that the NI regulations apply.

Regulation 5 sets the penalties for the main offence:

The regulations set £20,000 everywhere. In England and Wales, section 85 of LASPO 2012 turned summary fines of £5,000 or more into "a fine of any amount". Northern Ireland's limit is set by regulation 5 of its own regulations.

In England and Wales, courts use the Sentencing Council's guideline for organisations, which covers "The General Food Regulations 2004 (regulation 4)" (effective from 1 February 2016, last updated 5 October 2026). For a large organisation with very high culpability and the worst harm, the range runs from £500,000 to £3,000,000. There's a matching guideline for individuals.

Time limits and defences

A prosecution must start within three years of the offence, or one year from when the prosecutor discovered it, "whichever is the earlier". That's section 34 of the Food Safety Act 1990, applied by regulation 7(4). In Northern Ireland, article 35 of the Food Safety (NI) Order 1991 sets the same limits.

The defence is due diligence. Under section 21 of the 1990 Act, you must show you "took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence". In NI it's article 20 of the 1991 Order. A rotation system with daily date checks, trained staff and written records is what that defence rests on.

Real cases

Watford, 2025. KG Superstore Ltd, trading as Nisa Local, was fined £17,000 at St Albans Magistrates' Court on 27 August 2025 "for repeatedly selling food past its use by date". Its director was "personally fined £1,757.70 for failing to prevent the offences". Hertfordshire County Council made five visits between July 2024 and January 2025. On the last one, officers found "29 food items, including meat and dairy products marketed to children, that were up to 18 days past their use by date".

Merthyr Tydfil, 2025. Craigs Meat Shack Ltd was convicted on 3 September 2025 of seven offences "contrary to Regulation 4 of The General Food Regulations 2004". Officers found food past its use-by in the display freezers, and the business "was unable to provide documentation to evidence that the food was frozen before the use by date". It was "fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £854.85 costs and a victim surcharge of £1,400", a total of £5,754.85, according to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. More than a hundred products were voluntarily surrendered.

In both, the council couldn't find a working date check, or any record of one.

Common mistakes and myths

Some of these came from the practitioner read. One X user wrote: "We generally ignore the 'use by' date. Instead, we mark the item by adding the month/year we purchased the item, then practice FIFO…" That may work in a home pantry. In a business it fails the legal test, because the date that counts is the maker's use-by. Another wrote: "Use by means that's the point where its rotten." It isn't. It's the last day the food is safe, and you often can't tell by looking.

FIFO in accounting: the other meaning

Search "FIFO" and you'll mostly find accountants. In stock valuation, FIFO is an assumption about which costs went out, not about which tins left the shelf. HMRC's Business Income Manual BIM33120 explains: "FIFO assumes you sell the oldest stock first, so the cost value is the cost of the most recent stock." It also notes that "FRS 102 Section 13 Inventories prohibits the use of LIFO in valuing inventories."

The two meanings meet in your stock count. If you rotate properly, your physical stock really is the newest stock, so FIFO valuation matches what's on the shelves. FIFO also turns up in computing (a queue) and remote-site jobs (fly-in, fly-out). Neither has anything to do with your walk-in.

FAQ

What does FIFO mean in food?

First in, first out. Stock that arrived first is used first, so older food is used before it goes out of date. The FSA's Safer food, better business pack and Food Standards Scotland's CookSafe both tell food businesses to use it.

Is FIFO a legal requirement in the UK?

Not by name. The law says food past its use-by date is deemed unsafe, and supplying unsafe food is an offence under the General Food Regulations 2004 (GB) or the NI version. FIFO is the official guidance on how to avoid that.

What is the difference between FIFO and FEFO?

FIFO uses stock in the order it arrived. FEFO (first expired, first out) uses the item with the earliest date first. When a newer delivery has a shorter date, use FEFO, because the law checks the date, not the delivery day.

Can you use food on its use-by date?

Yes, up to the end of that day, if it's been stored as the label says. After that it's deemed unsafe. SFBB's closing check says food on its use-by date should be thrown away at close.

Can you sell food past its best before date?

Yes, if it's still fit to eat. The FSA says you can supply food after the best before date, though it may not be at its best. You can't supply food after its use-by date.

Can I freeze food on its use-by date?

Yes, on or before the date. Label it with the date it was frozen, so you can prove it later. Once defrosted, use it within 24 hours.

How often should I check dates?

Every day. SFBB's closing check includes throwing away food on its use-by date, and many kitchens check at delivery and at close. Write the checks down, because records are your defence. Our kitchen closing checklist includes the date check.

What's the fine for selling out-of-date food?

In England and Wales it's unlimited in the magistrates' court, and up to two years' prison on indictment. In Scotland and NI the summary maximum is £20,000. Directors can be fined personally, as in the Watford case (£1,757.70).