MANY

don’t know that freshly baked bread generally has five days to its “best before” date, so bread baked on the 10th will have a “best before” date of the 15th.

To enable their home-brand breads to be sold cheaper, large chains have been allowed to sell day-old bread along with the fresh bread, cutting down on returns. Long gone are the days when “day-old” bread had to be marked as such.

However, it turns out some are now selling bread two days old with the fresh. Authorities seem to be turning a blind eye.

It’s time Fair Trading had a look at what’s happening with “fresh” bread marketing. In the meantime, customers should check the dates on bread before buying it. IAN TIMMINS