The Date System Is Not What You Think It Is

With one exception — infant formula — the United States federal government does not require expiration dates on food. The FDA and USDA do not set or regulate date labels on most food products. What you see on the package is chosen by the manufacturer, calculated by their own internal quality standards, formatted however they prefer, and stamped on the package with no third-party verification.

The labels vary wildly in what they mean:

Label What It Actually Means Is It a Safety Date?
Best By / Best If Used By Manufacturer's estimate of when peak quality (flavor, texture, appearance) begins to decline No — quality only
Use By Manufacturer's recommendation for last date of peak quality; sometimes used for perishables Generally no (except infant formula)
Sell By Inventory management signal for retailers — tells stores when to rotate stock No — never intended for consumers
Freeze By Recommendation for when to freeze the item to maintain best quality No — quality only
Packed On Date the product was packaged No — informational only

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service states explicitly: "Best if Used By/Before indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date." The FDA echoes this for the products it regulates. The dates are not safety deadlines. They are quality estimates.

Why Dates Vary So Much — And Why That's a Problem

Because there's no federal standard, two manufacturers making essentially the same product can stamp very different dates on their packaging. One cracker brand might say "Best By 6 months from production." Another identical cracker from a different maker might say "Best By 12 months." Neither date is independently verified. Both are internal decisions.

Studies have found extreme variation even within categories. In a 2019 analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the same type of product from different brands had date spans that differed by more than 100% — not because the food was meaningfully different, but because the date-setting practices were inconsistent.

This inconsistency has real consequences. Consumers who don't understand the system take the "Use By" date on a jar of peanut butter as seriously as the "Use By" date on fresh ground meat. The safety implications of those two products are not remotely comparable, but the labels look the same.

The NRDC estimates that 20% of household food waste in the US is directly caused by misinterpretation of date labels. People throw out food they believe to be unsafe because of dates that were never meant to indicate safety. That's money, food, and environmental resources discarded over a misunderstanding baked into the labeling system.

What Infant Formula Is the Exception

Infant formula is the one major category where federal law requires a "Use By" date, and where that date carries genuine safety and nutritional weight. Infant formula must be dated because the nutrient concentrations degrade over time, and infants who depend on it for complete nutrition can be harmed by formula that's significantly past its date. For infant formula, treat the "Use By" date as a real deadline. For everything else, the calculus is different.

What Actually Determines When Food Is Unsafe

Food safety is determined by microbiology, not calendar dates. The relevant questions are: Has the food developed dangerous bacterial growth? Has it undergone chemical changes (oxidation, rancidity) that make it harmful? Has it been contaminated?

Those things don't happen on schedule. They depend on how the food was stored, what it contains, whether the packaging is intact, and what the food actually is. A can of beans sealed in your pantry at room temperature is not going to become unsafe on a specific date. A package of ground beef left at 55°F can become dangerous in hours, regardless of what the date says.

The key factors that actually drive food safety:

  • Temperature: The USDA's "danger zone" for bacterial growth is 40°F–140°F. Food held in this range for more than 2 hours is at increasing risk. Refrigerator at 40°F or below, freezer at 0°F — foods stored properly degrade on a much slower timeline than dates suggest.
  • Moisture: High water content foods (meat, dairy, fresh produce) spoil faster than dry foods (crackers, dried pasta, canned goods). The mechanism is bacterial growth, which requires moisture.
  • Oxygen: Oxidation breaks down fats and makes them rancid. Sealed, vacuum-packed, or canned foods degrade far more slowly than opened or exposed products.
  • Acidity: Highly acidic foods (vinegar-based condiments, canned tomatoes) resist bacterial growth. Low-acid canned goods (vegetables, beans, meats) last longer than high-acid products but carry a small risk of botulism if the can is damaged.
  • Package integrity: A punctured can, a broken seal, or a swollen package is a real warning sign regardless of the date. A visually intact, properly sealed package that's past its "Best By" date is almost always fine.

Category-by-Category: What's Actually Safe Past the Date

The practical guidance by food category (assuming proper storage conditions):

  • Canned goods (low-acid: beans, corn, tuna, chicken): Safe for 2–5 years past the printed date if the can is intact, not swollen, not dented near the seams, and stored in a cool dry location. The USDA says low-acid canned goods can remain safe indefinitely. Quality eventually declines; safety does not.
  • Canned goods (high-acid: tomatoes, fruit, pickles): Best quality within 12–18 months of the date, though still safe well beyond that. Acidity can slowly corrode the can over very long periods.
  • Dry pasta, rice, dried beans: Effectively indefinite shelf life if stored dry and sealed. "Best By" dates on pasta are quality markers — the pasta will still cook and taste fine years past the date. Dried beans may take longer to cook as they age but are safe.
  • Flour, sugar, baking powder: Flour can go rancid (smell it — rancid flour smells oily or musty), but "Best By" dates are quality estimates. Sugar and salt have essentially no expiration. Baking powder loses potency after 1–2 years.
  • Shelf-stable condiments (soy sauce, vinegar, honey): Indefinite shelf life when sealed. Honey literally does not expire — archaeologists have found edible honey in Egyptian tombs. Soy sauce and vinegar are self-preserving due to salt and acidity.
  • Hard cheeses (sealed, uncut): Often safe 2–4 weeks past the "Use By" date. Mold on hard cheese can be cut away (1 inch margin in all directions); the rest is safe. Soft cheeses and sliced cheeses are higher risk and should be treated more conservatively.
  • Eggs: The "Sell By" date on eggs is typically 3–5 weeks before the eggs actually go bad. The float test is reliable: fresh eggs sink and lay flat; slightly older eggs sink but stand up; bad eggs float (due to gas from bacterial activity inside the shell).
  • Milk: Often good 5–7 days past the "Sell By" date if properly refrigerated and continuously cold. Your nose is a reliable detector — spoiled milk smells unmistakably sour.
  • Frozen food: "Best By" dates on frozen food are quality estimates. Properly frozen food (0°F or below) is safe indefinitely, though quality degrades with freezer burn over time.
  • Fresh meat and poultry: The highest-risk category. Follow the "Use By" date and use within 1–2 days of purchase, or freeze. This is where date guidance actually approximates safety, not just quality. When in doubt, cook to temperature — ground meat should reach 160°F, poultry 165°F.

The rule of thumb: Trust your senses on perishables (meat, dairy, fresh produce). Ignore dates on shelf-stable dry goods and canned products. Check package integrity on anything canned. When something smells wrong, looks wrong, or has visible mold in an unexpected place, that's your real signal — not the number on the package.

The Reform Efforts — and Where They Stand

The inconsistency of the date label system has been documented by the USDA, FDA, NRDC, and food industry organizations for more than a decade. The Grocery Manufacturers Association and Food Marketing Institute jointly developed voluntary guidance in 2017, recommending manufacturers standardize to just two labels: "Best If Used By" for quality dates and "Use By" for safety dates on highly perishable items. Many large manufacturers have adopted this guidance, but it remains voluntary and compliance is uneven.

The Food Date Labeling Act, first introduced in Congress in 2016 and reintroduced in various forms since, would create a mandatory two-label federal standard. As of mid-2026, it has not passed into law. Standardization remains voluntary.

Several states — California, Massachusetts, and others — have passed or introduced their own date labeling reform bills. The patchwork remains confusing. The federal system hasn't changed.

What to Do With This Information

The practical takeaways:

  1. Treat "Best By" and "Best If Used By" as quality guidance, not safety deadlines. Most products remain safe well past these dates. Use your senses — smell, visual inspection, texture — to make the actual call.
  2. Ignore "Sell By" entirely as a consumer. It's a retail inventory tool. It tells you nothing about when the food becomes unsafe.
  3. Give fresh meat and poultry genuine respect. In this category, the dates and the 1–2 day guidance are real. Freeze before the date if you won't use it in time.
  4. Store food properly. Refrigerator at 40°F or below. Dry goods in sealed containers away from heat and moisture. A product stored poorly will go bad before its date; a product stored well can be safe significantly past it.
  5. Learn the float test for eggs. It's a 3-second check that's more reliable than any date on the carton.
  6. Smell your flour before you bake with it. Rancid flour is one of the most common food waste failure modes — you follow the date, throw away good flour, or worse, bake with bad flour that's technically "in date."
  7. Stop throwing away canned goods based on dates. If the can is intact, not swollen, not corroded, and not ancient, it is almost certainly safe and probably still good.

The date label system is broken. It was designed to protect manufacturers, enable retail inventory management, and give consumers some rough quality guidance — not to be a food safety standard. Understanding that distinction could save your household real money, reduce food waste, and help you make better decisions about what's actually safe to eat.