What You Need to Know:

• Date labels have nothing to do with product safety — they indicate quality.

• A date label should show the last date of expected peak quality.

• The recommended wording for is “Best if Used By”

• The FDA doesn’t require a date label on any food products except infant formula.

WHAT DOES A DATE LABEL MEAN? 

A date label on a food should indicate the last date where the food maintains peak quality and flavor. Date labels are meant to reflect quality not food safety.

A Best-if-Used-By Date “indicates to the consumer that the product may not taste or perform as expected but is safe to be used or consumed”

CAN I EAT A FOOD AFTER THE “EXPIRATION DATE”?

Yes! This is because it’s not an expiration date. A food which doesn’t show signs of spoilage after the specified date can still be eaten. 

Remember that food manufacturers have an incentive for you to only consume products in their “peak quality” because then you will buy their products more often. 

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN A PRODUCT IS UNSAFE TO EAT? 

Major food industry groups have endorsed the use of “Use By” to indicate when a product should be discarded for food safety reasons but, as of 2019, the FDA hasn’t taken a stance on this topic.