where to buy food items like...

praks

Reputed food companies mention the date of manufacture as well as the best before/expiry date on the package. If a product does not sell, it would be uneconomical for a chain like Food World to stock it and it would be phased out in time. Even then, they would not stock any product beyond the best before date.

icetea

sezegnin
lol :-))
that sounds like a chicken soup, Rohan, not "ghiveci"....and if you add the noddles then it's a proper Romanian sweet chicken soup also. But if was funny to see the "ghiveci" word...(a sort of a mish-mash with many boiled vegetables)

as about basil, you are probably right. I don't know much about how and when they grow, I just know that the differences are probably due to the fact that they are slightly different....basil and tulsi, although from the same family.

Praks
good point!