What Is FEFO?
Two cartons of the same milk can sit side by side on a shelf and still carry expiry dates seven weeks apart.
FEFO stands for First Expired, First Out. It is a stock rotation rule: the in-date batch with the earliest expiry date is picked, sold or used first, whatever order the batches arrived in. In India, FSSAI’s hygiene schedule for licensed food businesses requires stock to be rotated on FIFO and FEFO, though since June 2026 that rule no longer applies to retailers.
How FEFO Works on the Shelf
The rule sounds like common sense. Making it hold takes a few habits that start at the receiving door, long before anything is picked:
- Record the expiry at receipt. Each delivery is entered with its batch number and expiry date, not just a quantity.
- Shelve by date. The shortest-dated batch goes to the front, even if it arrived last.
- Pick from the front. Orders, sales and kitchen issues take the earliest expiry first.
- Check the dates weekly. Stock close to its date is pushed out first, and anything past it comes off sale.
For packaged food, the date FEFO runs on is the expiry or use by date. Regulation 5(10) of the FSSAI Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020 makes that date compulsory and allows best before only as optional information. Under the definition in regulation 2(1)(u), food past its use by date may not be sold or distributed for human consumption. Our page on shelf life explains the two dates.
Not every item has an expiry, though. The same regulation exempts fresh uncut produce, wine, drinks of 10% alcohol or more, vinegar, solid sugars and a few others, which need not carry an expiry date, so they usually go by arrival date (or, for produce, by condition).
FEFO vs FIFO
This is the confusion most readers arrive with, because the two rules usually pick the same carton.
| Aspect | FEFO | FIFO |
|---|---|---|
| Sorted by | Expiry date | Arrival date |
| Needs | An expiry on every batch | Only a receipt date |
| Best for | Milk, medicines, packaged snacks | Loose grain, hardware, spares |
| In the books | Not a cost formula | A cost formula under AS 2 |
They split when a later delivery carries an earlier date (which can happen when a supplier clears older stock from another depot), and then FEFO wins. Because FEFO is only a picking rule, your accountant is still free to value closing stock on FIFO or weighted average.
FEFO Example
On 20 October 2026, a dairy and FMCG distributor in Kurnool holds three batches of 1-litre UHT milk when a supermarket order for 160 cases comes in.
| Batch | Arrived | Expires | Cases held | FEFO picks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K2 | 9 Oct | 2 Dec 2026 | 85 | 85 |
| K1 | 4 Oct | 18 Jan 2027 | 140 | 75 |
| K3 | 16 Oct | 25 Mar 2027 | 200 | 0 |
Note: this is an invented example for illustration only. The distributor, batches and prices are not real.
Batch K2 came in after K1 but expires first, so FEFO clears all 85 cases of it. Picking by arrival date instead would have shipped all 140 cases of K1 and only 20 of K2, leaving 65 cases due to expire in six weeks. At Rs.876 a case, that is Rs.56,940 of milk racing its own date.
Where FEFO Goes Wrong
Frankly, the rule rarely fails on the shelf. It fails at the receiving door, when a busy storekeeper enters “40 cases of milk” without the batch or the date, and from that moment nobody can sort anything.
Mixed batches in one bin cause most of the rest. In a restaurant store room it is usually sauces and cream, where a fresh pack is opened before the older one behind it, and once a pack is opened, the earlier of the after-opening life on its label and the printed expiry sets its date.
And the cost usually shows up at the month-end count, when short-dated stock is spotted too late to sell and becomes a write-off.
Our food waste cost calculator shows what that habit costs over a year, and our guide to the FIFO food storage method covers shelf layout in a kitchen.
Track FIFO/FEFO Stock in Retail Billing
A FEFO shelf is only as reliable as the record of what sits on it.
For retail businesses, Petpooja Invoice lists FIFO/FEFO Stock Management and Batch & IMEI/Serial Stock Tracking among its inventory features, alongside real-time inventory management.
For restaurants, Petpooja POSS puts inventory on item-wise auto deduction with low-stock alerts and day-end inventory reports, which gives you each day’s usage to set against the dates on your shelf.
Pick your three shortest-dated items today and check whether the front of the shelf really expires first.
Frequently Asked Questions
First Expired, First Out. FSSAI’s own documents write it as First Expire First Out, and both mean the batch expiring soonest leaves first.
For licensed manufacturers, distributors and other non-retail food businesses, yes: Schedule 4 (Part II) of the FSS Licensing and Registration Regulations, 2011 requires stock to be rotated on FIFO and FEFO. An FSSAI amendment notified on 23 June 2026 took retailers out of that rule, though selling food past its use by date is still barred for everyone.
Yes, and many do. FEFO decides which carton leaves the shelf, while FIFO or weighted average decides the cost your books charge for it.
Not on a printed date. Fresh uncut vegetables, wine, solid sugars and a few other foods need no expiry date on the label, so they usually go by arrival date, though kitchens often add their own prep and discard dates and rotate on those.
