Quick Answer
Best by vs. use by labels cause more wasted food than almost any other single point of consumer confusion — a 2025 nationally representative survey found that 88% of consumers discard food near its package date at least occasionally, even though most of these dates aren’t safety deadlines at all. According to official USDA guidance, except for infant formula, dates on food packaging are not required by federal law and, when present, almost always indicate peak quality rather than safety — meaning food is typically still safe to eat after the date has passed, as long as it’s been stored properly and shows no signs of spoilage.
This connects directly to the food-waste reduction themes already covered in the pantry staple recipes and budget grocery shopping guides on this site — understanding these labels is one of the simplest ways to stop throwing away food (and money) unnecessarily.
What Each Date Label Actually Means
| Label | What It Actually Means | Is It a Safety Date? |
|---|---|---|
| Best If Used By/Before | Peak quality/flavor date, set by the manufacturer | No — quality indicator only |
| Sell By | Tells the store how long to display the product for inventory purposes | No — not intended for consumers at all |
| Use By | Often the last date recommended for peak quality; sometimes used more like a safety-adjacent date by some manufacturers | Usually no, but varies — check for infant formula exception below |
| Expires On / Expiration Date | The only phrasing that clearly indicates a hard safety cutoff | Yes, when explicitly labeled this way |
The core problem: these terms are not standardized or federally regulated (except for infant formula), so two products sitting next to each other on a shelf can use different terms to mean similar things, which is exactly why the USDA has pushed manufacturers toward voluntarily adopting “Best if Used By” as the standard, clearer phrase since 2016.
The One Major Exception: Infant Formula
Infant formula is the single food category where federal law does require a date, and that date does relate to nutritional content and safety — the U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandates it specifically because formula’s nutrient levels are regulated. This is the one category where the general “dates are just quality indicators” rule doesn’t apply, and expired formula should not be used past its labeled date.
How Long Common Foods Actually Last Past Their Date
Based on USDA FoodKeeper guidance and general food safety standards, here’s roughly how long properly stored food remains good past its package date:
- Eggs: 3–5 weeks past the carton date if refrigerated properly, as covered in the egg dinner recipes guide
- Canned goods (low-acid, like vegetables and soups): 2–5 years past the date
- Canned goods (high-acid, like tomatoes and pickles): 12–18 months past the date
- Milk: Typically 5–7 days past the date if refrigerated continuously and unopened
- Hard cheese: Several weeks to months past the date, especially unopened
- Dry pasta and rice: Effectively indefinite if stored dry and sealed, well past any printed date
- Frozen meat: Safe indefinitely if kept frozen, though quality declines gradually — the same principle covered in the make-ahead freezer meals guide
These are general guidelines, not guarantees — the sensory check below always takes priority over a printed date.
The Sensory Check: What Actually Matters More Than the Date
Food safety experts consistently point to three checks that matter more than the printed date:
- Smell — an off, sour, or unusual odor is one of the clearest spoilage signs.
- Appearance — visible mold, unusual discoloration, or sliminess (especially on meat or produce) means it’s time to discard, regardless of the date.
- Texture — an unusual stickiness, mushiness, or hardness that wasn’t there originally is a reliable spoilage signal.
If a food passes all three checks, it’s generally still fine to eat even past its printed date — and if it fails any of them, the date on the package doesn’t matter either way; it should be discarded.
Expert Tip
The USDA specifically recommends the “when in doubt, throw it out” principle only for genuine spoilage signs (smell, appearance, texture) — not as a blanket response to a passed date by itself. Treating every “best by” date as an automatic discard deadline is precisely the habit driving the food waste statistics above; reserving that caution for actual sensory red flags, rather than the date alone, is the more accurate and less wasteful approach.
Why This Matters for Your Grocery Budget
Confusion over date labels is estimated to account for roughly 20% of household food waste, and Americans throw out close to a pound of food per person per day on average, according to USDA-cited research. Reducing unnecessary date-based discarding connects directly to nearly every budget strategy already covered on this site — from meal prep to freezer meals to general grocery shopping — since food thrown out due to date confusion is money spent with zero benefit.
Common Date Label Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating “sell by” as a consumer-facing date. As covered above, this label is meant for store inventory management, not a signal for when to stop eating something at home.
- Discarding canned goods immediately at the printed date. Properly stored canned goods remain safe for years past this date in most cases — dents, bulges, or rust are far more reliable warning signs than the date itself.
- Assuming every product’s rules are the same. Infant formula is a genuine exception; most other packaged foods are not.
- Ignoring the sensory check entirely and relying only on the date, or the reverse — ignoring an obvious spoilage sign just because the date hasn’t passed yet. Both extremes lead to either waste or risk.
- Not checking storage conditions. A date label assumes proper storage (refrigeration, sealed packaging); food stored incorrectly can spoil well before its printed date regardless of what it says.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it actually safe to eat food after the “best by” date has passed? In most cases, yes — according to official USDA guidance, “best by” indicates peak quality, not safety, and food is generally still safe to eat afterward if it’s been stored properly and shows no signs of spoilage.
What’s the difference between “sell by” and “use by”? “Sell by” is a retailer-facing instruction for inventory rotation, not meant for consumers at all, while “use by” is more often intended to indicate the last date for best quality — though usage varies by manufacturer since these terms aren’t federally standardized.
Why isn’t there one standard date label used on all food? Except for infant formula, date labeling on food is not required by federal law, which has allowed manufacturers to use inconsistent terms — this is exactly the confusion that proposed legislation like the Food Date Labeling Act aims to fix by standardizing language nationwide.
How much food waste is actually caused by date label confusion? Estimates from food waste researchers put the figure at roughly 20% of household food waste, contributing to hundreds of thousands of tons of unnecessarily discarded food in the U.S. each year.
Are canned goods really safe for years past their date? Generally yes — low-acid canned foods like vegetables and soups typically remain safe for 2–5 years past the printed date, and high-acid canned foods like tomatoes for 12–18 months, according to USDA guidance, as long as the can shows no dents, bulging, or rust.
Final Thought
Best by vs. use by confusion isn’t a minor labeling quirk — it’s a genuinely significant, well-documented driver of household food waste and wasted grocery spending. Learning to rely on smell, appearance, and texture rather than the printed date alone is one of the simplest, least effort-intensive changes covered anywhere on this site, and it pairs directly with the pantry staples, freezer meals, and grocery shopping strategies already built around getting more genuine value out of every grocery trip.
