Food Safety Experts Break Down the Meaning of “Best Before” and “Use By” Dates on Food Labels

In 2017, some food experts scouring the dumpsters of North Buffalo came across a grim reality. Hoards of uneaten food were piled high in the landfills, some of them still smelling fresh, as per WIVB. Omelettes, pizzas, spaghetti, and whole sandwiches wrapped neatly in paper packaging. In the same year, a viral billboard brought to attention that an average American wastes “290 pounds of food a year.” The main reason behind this was the misunderstanding of food dating labels and the fear of getting sick upon eating expired food. These dot matrix digits printed on everything from milk cartons to frozen pizzas terrify people into eating them quickly or tossing them in their kitchen trash. This is just a big lie, experts write in Vox.

WIVB reported that almost 40% of food is going to waste in America while nearly 50 million people suffer from food insecurity. Food safety experts explained that the expiration dates that cause all this wastage are not “expiration” dates at all. The broader public’s misunderstanding of these labels leads not only to wasted food, but also wasted manufacturing revenue, wasted household income, and increasing food insecurity. Add to it all the natural resources used to create these food items, such as water. They get wasted too. The good news is, a basic understanding of these dating labels can resolve the entire muddle.

“Most people believe that if it says ‘sell by,' ‘best by' or ‘expiration,' you can’t eat any of them. That's not actually accurate," Richard Lipsit, a grocery store owner, told NBC Philadelphia. NBC explains that most foods including packaged foods like cereal, pasta, and cookies, work well past their “best by” date. The date is not added to indicate their expiration, but to tell people that the item may not meet the company’s standard of freshness after this date. “It is not a safety date,” USDA clarifies. The “sell by” date too doesn’t represent the product’s safety markers. It basically “tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management,” according to USDA.

The “use by” date is added as a recommendation for when the product will be at its most nutritious and peak quality. A “freeze by” date indicates when the product should be frozen to preserve its highest quality. Frozen food that has been stored in the freezer for months may not taste as good as it would early on, but it is still safe to eat. These sell-by-dates are simply a supermarket invention to encourage shoppers to buy more and consume more. These dates can make even the most fearless foodie paranoid with thoughts like "If I eat that past its sell-by-date yogurt, killer bacteria is going to sweep through my guts like a pathogenic panzer division," as per The Guardian.

In 2016, some Europeans launched the “Too Good To Go” campaign that prevents safe food from going to waste. Till now, the impact organization has saved over 350 million meals from being tossed into dumpsters, equivalent to 891,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide avoided. The clue, they say, to test whether a food is safe or not, lies in senses. USDA explains that food that is spoiled generally gives itself away in the form of foul odor, poor flavor, or unusual texture. This happens when microorganisms such as mold, mildew, yeast, or bacteria invade the food item. Otherwise, most foods are safe and wholesome to eat way past their expiry dates.

There are however some exceptions to this rule, such as baby formula, nutritional supplements, and low-calorie food, as Food Stash Foundation (@foodstashfoundation) explains on TikTok. In the end, trust your senses more than you trust the packaging labels. If that block of cheese doesn’t show mold, then don’t throw it away in the bin, even if its expiry date has passed. “Do you pay close attention to sell-by-dates or do you just follow your nose,” Wright asks.