Food for Life is closed December 23rd- 27th and January 1st.
Mountainside and Tremaine Markets are closed December 24th – January 2nd.
Community Programs are closed December 23rd – January 1st.
All fresh food that is rescued by Food for Life is sorted and packed according to strict government guidelines for handling, storage and transport to ensure the safety of our neighbours accessing food.
We encourage our neighbours to follow best practices of:
The Best Before Date, also known as a durable life date, tells you when the durable life period of a prepackaged food ends.
Durable life means the anticipated amount of time that an unopened food product, when stored under appropriate
conditions, will retain its: freshness, taste, nutritional value, or any other qualities claimed by the manufacturer.
Room Temp | Refrigerated | Frozen | Canned/Jarred | Boxed/Bagged | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fruit/ Vegetable | Fresh 2-7 days | Fresh 1-4 weeks depending on produce | 1 year | 1 year | - |
Bread | 1 week | 2 weeks | 1 month | - | 1 week |
Grains & Cereals | - | - | - | - | 6-12 months |
Meats Uncooked | Less than 2 hours | 0 days | 6 months | - | - |
Deli Meats | Less than 2 hours | 5-7 days | 2-3 months | 1 year | - |
Dairy (Pasteurized) | Less than 2 hours after opening | 2 weeks (after opened/reconstituted) | 6 months | 1 year | - |
Note: To be used as a guide only.
Developed by Food Banks Canada. This information is to be used as a guide only. It was developed based on general
knowledge, industry practices and the understanding that best before dates are about sensory quality. Canadian Food
Inspection Agency, Date Labelling on Pre-packaged Foods, Date Modified: 2013-07-07, Available at: https://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/information-for-consumers/fact-sheets/labelling-food-packaging-and-storage/date/eng/1332357469487/1332357545633.
M.A. Freitas, J.C. Costa, Shelf life determination using sensory evaluation scores: A general Weibull modeling approach,
Computers & Industrial Engineering, Vol. 51, No. 4, 2006, pp. 652-670. A. Giménez, F. Ares, G. Ares, Sensory shelf-life estimation: A review of current methodological approaches, Food Research International, Vol. 49, No 1, 2012, pp. 311-325.
S. Guerra, C. Lagazio, L. Manzocco, et al., Risks and pitfalls of sensory data analysis for shelf life prediction: Data simulation applied to the case of coffee, ‘Food Science and Technology, Vol. 41, No. 10, 2008, pp. 2070-2078. Utah State University
Cooperative Extension Service, Food Storage: Dried Milk, Available at: https://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/dried-milk
Any food recalls will be communicated.
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Food for Life Canada Office
2258 Mountainside Drive
Burlington, ON L7P 1B7
905-635-1106
