FEFO (First Expired, First Out), Food Safety Glossary

A stock rotation method where food with the earliest expiry date is used or sold first, regardless of when it arrived. FEFO stands for First Expired, First Out. It is a stock rotation method in which the food with the earliest use-by or best-before date is used or sold first, regardless of the order in which it was delivered. FEFO focuses on the date the food expires rather than the date it arrived, which makes it more precise than First In, First Out when a newer delivery happens to carry a shorter date than older stock already on hand. FEFO is not a specific rule in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, but it directly supports the requirement not to sell or use unsafe or out-of-date food. It is especially useful for perishable, potentially hazardous foods where dates are close together, and for businesses that receive stock from several suppliers with differing dates. FEFO works best alongside clear labelling and regular date checks. In an Australian kitchen or store, staff applying FEFO arrange stock so the items with the earliest expiry date are at the front and used first, checking use-by and best-before dates as they put deliveries away rather than assuming the newest box has the longest life. This is common in cool rooms, freezers and display cabinets where dated perishable stock builds up. FEFO relies on accurate dates being visible, so businesses label decanted or in-house prepared food with clear dates and record dates at goods receipt. Where stock always arrives in date order, simple First In, First Out achieves the same result, but FEFO is the safer default whenever delivery order and expiry order do not match. A deli receives a fresh batch of dips on Wednesday with a use-by date only three days away, while dips delivered on Monday still have a week of life left. Following FEFO, staff move the Wednesday dips to the front to be sold first, because they expire soonest, even though they arrived later than the Monday stock.