How to Track Waste & Expiry

Why waste and expiry tracking matters Tracking what you hold in stock protects both your customers and your margins. The waste and expiry tracker in FoodSafety HQ helps you monitor inventory items, apply FIFO (First In, First Out), and reduce food waste by alerting you to items nearing their expiry date. Using older stock first and removing anything past its use-by date keeps unsafe food out of service and gives you a clear record of the disposal decisions you have made. Inventory sorted by expiry date, with items closest to their use-by date highlighted. How to add an inventory item Open Waste & Expiry from the sidebar and select your venue if you run more than one site. Click Add Item . Enter the item details: Name: the product name, for example "Cooked chicken" or "Fresh cream". Category: group similar items such as Dairy, Meat, or Produce to make the list easier to scan. Batch number: record it for traceability, so you can act quickly if a supplier issues a recall. Received date: when the item arrived in your kitchen. Expiry date: the use-by date shown on the product. Quantity: the amount received. Save the item. It now appears in your inventory, sorted by expiry date. Use-by versus best-before The distinction matters for safety. Under the FSANZ Food Standards Code (Standard 1.2.5), a use-by date is a safety limit: food must not be sold or used after it, because it may pose a health risk. A best-before date relates to quality rather than safety, so food may still be safe after it but may have lost freshness. When you enter an expiry date, use the product's use-by date for anything perishable. How FIFO tracking works Items are sorted visually by expiry date, so the stock you should use first sits at the top of the list. Items closest to expiry are highlighted, which makes it easy for any staff member to grab the right batch during service. Rotating stock this way is the core of FIFO and one of the simplest habits for cutting waste. Tip: When new stock arrives, place it behind existing stock on the shelf and log it straight away. Matching your physical rotation to the tracker keeps both accurate. Understanding item statuses Active: currently in stock and within its date. Expired: past its use-by date and no longer safe to use, so it should be disposed of. Used: consumed or disposed of, and removed from your live inventory. Acting on expiry alerts Items expiring within 3 days appear as urgent alerts on the dashboard . This early warning gives you time to plan a special, move stock into prep, or use it before it expires rather than throwing it out. Checking these alerts at the start of each shift is a quick way to stay on top of your stock. Marking items as used When you use or dispose of an item, mark it as Used to keep your inventory accurate. If you discard food because it reached its use-by date or spent too long in the temperature danger zone (5°C to 60°C), recording it here creates a clear disposal trail that supports your wider food safety records. Remember the 2-hour / 4-hour rule: potentially hazardous food in the danger zone for under 2 hours can be refrigerated or used; between 2 and 4 hours it should be used immediately; over 4 hours it must be thrown out. Log those disposals so the decision is documented. Next steps Consistent stock rotation supports the records an auditor expects under the FSANZ Food Safety Standards. Learn more about our waste and expiry tracking features , see how records come together in audit reports , or contact us if you would like a hand setting up your inventory.