Here's what the ‘use by’ date on your food really means

It sounds sensible enough to rely on the date printed on a food label before deciding whether to buy or eat it. But a 2025 survey of more than 2,000 adults in the U.S. found that nearly half of them misunderstand what the terms associated with those dates actually mean.

Terms like best by, use by, sell by, best before, and expires on may seem synonymous but aren't. And this confusion can lead people to discard food unnecessarily, resulting in wasted money—to the tune of $150 billion among U.S. households, according to the survey—and contribute to the global problem of food waste. 

“Food product dating rarely indicates when the food is safe to eat,” says Nicole Arnold, an assistant professor and food safety field specialist at the Ohio State University. Instead, she adds, “almost all food product dating in the United States represents how long a product will maintain its peak quality”—which may mean how long it’ll retain characteristics like taste, color, texture, and nutritional value.

Complicating matters, some of these terms are merely suggestions regarding the food’s quality, while others carry more weight. And sometimes there’s a date stamped on a food package without any of these phrases, which can be genuinely mystifying.

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Members of Congress have introduced the bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act of 2025 to reduce consumer confusion and food waste by limiting the jargon to just two terms: “best if used by” for peak quality and “use by” for safety. The bill is still pending.

In the meantime, experts say there are a few rules of thumb you can follow depending on what type of food you’d like to eat.

Foods where you should respect the date

Packaged deli meats, bacon, and hot dogs should be thrown away based on the label date for food safety reasons; the same is true for packaged meats, poultry, fish and seafood. With all of these, the concern is that bacteria (such as listeria, E. coli, and salmonella) in that item could multiply as time goes by, which means you could get a foodborne illness from consuming it.

With these perishable items, “you cannot use appearance, smell and taste to assess safety because pathogenic bacteria are invisible,” says Donald W. Schaffner, a professor of food science at Rutgers University.

In addition to infant formula, packaged baby food should be discarded after the use-by date, says Sara Morris, senior food safety and traceability scientist at the Institute of Food Technologists. “Young children’s immune systems are still developing and not as strong as adults’ are—so heed the date.” 

Items where there’s wiggle room

There’s some leeway when it comes to the dates stamped on the packages of dairy products, including milk, sour cream, and yogurt. As long as they’re refrigerated at 40-degrees Fahrenheit or below, you may still be able to use it after the date has passed. (Get a thermometer for your fridge if yours doesn’t have one.)

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Generally, milk can be used five to seven days past the best-by date, hard cheese can be consumed three to four weeks after the stamped date (soft cheeses have a considerably shorter shelf life), yogurt can be eaten one to two weeks after the date on the label, and butter can be used one to three months after the stamped date, according to Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian at the Center for Human Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic.

Eggs, meanwhile, can be consumed if cooked a week or two after the labeled date.

Remember, though, that once milk, cheese, or yogurt containers have been opened, the contents become more perishable as they’re exposed to air, light and moisture. To be on the safe side with all of these foods, experts say it’s wise to smell it, taste it, and examine it visually for signs of mold growth before using or eating the item.

Foods where you can use your good judgment

With snack foods, cereals, crackers, cookies, condiments, sauces, juices, pastas, rice, and condiments, you can use your senses—by smelling, looking at, and tasting the item—to assess whether you want to eat it after the date stamped on the package.

“I don’t believe that eating stale cereal is harmful to your health,” Zumpano says. “It just might not taste good.”

When it comes to other items that may or may not come with a date stamped on the label, it’s also smart to use your senses to gauge the freshness. “When in doubt, throw it out,” Arnold advises. “When you notice funky smells or striking changes in texture like mushy, raw vegetables, toss the items.”

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Similarly, toss nuts or oils if they smell rancid; even if they don’t give you digestive distress, they may ruin the flavor of whatever you’re making.

These practical strategies can set you up to minimize food waste and maximize the quality of your meals, nutritionally and in terms of enjoyment. Another good strategy: “Be aware of what’s in your fridge and cabinets and rotate your stock from the back to the front” on a regular basis, based on their dates, advises Zumpano. That way, you’ll use older items first.

Also, be sure to keep the inside of your refrigerator clean, she adds, “because if there’s bacteria in the fridge, it’s more prone to get into the food inside the fridge.” Which is the last thing you want to happen.

As far as the dates go on food labels, which ones should you pay attention to? “Consumers should pay attention to all of them to manage the food they’re bringing into their homes,” says Schaffner. “Nobody wants to eat poor quality food.”