Food Expiration Dates: Best By, Sell By, and Use By

1. Why Are Food Expiration Dates So Confusing?

Because the United States does not currently use one single federally standardized expiration-date phrase for most packaged foods.

FDA says manufacturers use a variety of voluntary phrases, including:

• Best By;
• Best If Used By;
• Best Before;
• Sell By;
• Use By;
• Freeze By.

Except for infant formula and certain specific regulated situations, federal rules generally do not require a universal expiration date on packaged foods.

That means a shopper can see two nearly identical foods carrying different phrases even though the dates may both primarily relate to product quality.

For the complete prevention hierarchy, read How to Reduce Food Waste at Home.

2. What Does “Best By” or “Best If Used By” Mean?

According to USDA, a Best if Used By/Before date identifies the period during which a product is expected to have its best flavor or quality.

It is not, by itself, a safety date.

After that date, depending on the food and how it was stored, you might first notice:

• staler texture;
• less crispness;
• color fading;
• flavor loss;
• aroma changes;
• or reduced cooking performance.

Dry shelf-stable foods are good examples of why the distinction matters.

A package of dry popcorn kernels may lose popping performance or develop quality problems very differently from raw chicken in a refrigerator. Compare Can Popcorn Expire? for a shelf-stable example.

3. What Does “Sell By” Mean?

Sell By is primarily a retailer inventory-management date.

USDA explains that it tells stores how long to display a product for sale.

It is not a household safety deadline.

That means you should not look at a package saying:

SELL BY SEP 18

and assume:

“Unsafe on Sep 19.”

What matters after purchase is the food's safe home-storage window.

Example: Fresh Meat and Poultry

USDA provides product-specific home-storage guidance even when a product carries a Sell By date.

For example:

• fresh beef, veal, pork and lamb should generally be used or frozen within about 3–5 days after purchase;
• fresh chicken, turkey and ground meat should generally be used or frozen within about 1–2 days after purchase.

The household storage clock therefore matters more than treating Sell By as an expiration date.

4. What Does “Use By” Mean?

This phrase causes some of the greatest confusion.

In current USDA guidance, a Use By date is generally the manufacturer's recommended last date for using a food while it remains at peak quality.

For most foods under U.S. federal guidance, that does not automatically make it a safety date.

But there are two important reasons not to turn that statement into “Use By dates don't matter.”

1. Product-Specific Storage Rules Still Apply

Raw meat, poultry, cooked leftovers, prepared foods and other perishables have their own safe storage limits.

If a safe refrigerator-storage window ends sooner than the printed package date, follow the shorter safety window.

2. Other Jurisdictions May Use “Use By” Differently

This article explains common U.S. federal date-label terminology.

Other countries can assign a stronger food-safety meaning to a Use By date. If you are outside the United States, follow the rules and package instructions in your market.

5. The Important Exception: Infant Formula

This is why blanket statements such as “expiration dates are only about quality” are inaccurate.

Always identify the food category before deciding what the date means.

6. Is Food Safe After the Printed Date?

The correct answer is:

Sometimes, but the date alone is not enough information.

For most U.S. quality-based dates, evaluate the food using several layers of information:

1. What type of date is printed? Best By, Sell By, Use By, Freeze By, or something else?
2. What type of food is it? Dry pasta and raw poultry should never be evaluated using the same rules.
3. Has it been opened? Opening can create an entirely different storage window.
4. Was it stored correctly? Temperature abuse can make a printed date irrelevant.
5. Has its safe refrigerator window already ended? Product-specific food-safety guidance takes priority.
6. Is the package damaged? Bulging, leaking, broken seals, or serious container damage can be warning signs.
7. Are there signs of spoilage? Mold, slime, abnormal odor, gas or major texture changes can mean the food should not be eaten.

7. What Happens to the Date After You Open the Package?

Once a product is opened, the printed date often becomes only one piece of the decision.

Opening can expose food to:

• oxygen;
• moisture;
• utensils;
• hands;
• cross-contamination;
• and temperature changes.

A jar that had months remaining on its Best By date can have a much shorter usable life once opened.

Follow package directions such as:

• “Refrigerate after opening”;
• “Use within X days after opening”;
• or other manufacturer-specific instructions.

Writing the opening date on the container is one of the simplest ways to prevent forgotten food waste.

For a good real-world example, read Do Pickles Go Bad?.

8. Why Different Foods Need Different Date Decisions

A date-label guide becomes dangerous if it encourages people to treat every food the same.

This is why the broader Food Storage Guide should be the next step after understanding date labels.

9. How to Use Date Labels Without Creating Unnecessary Food Waste

A better household routine is:

This follows the broader food-waste hierarchy in How to Reduce Food Waste at Home.

10. Where Does GEME Fit Into Food Expiration and Food Waste?

GEME should never become an excuse to throw edible food away earlier.

The preferred household sequence is:

Prevent → Store → Eat → Repurpose → Freeze → Compost unavoidable waste.

That positioning actually makes GEME more useful—not less.

Even a well-managed kitchen still produces:

• peels;
• cores;
• coffee grounds;
• eggshells;
• trimmings;
• inedible parts;
• and occasional appropriate food that genuinely becomes unusable.

Terra 2

Terra 2 is designed primarily for 1–3 person households, with a 14 L microbial chamber and daily suitable food-scrap capacity of up to approximately 2 kg.

GEME Pro

GEME Pro increases the chamber to 19 L and supports up to approximately 5 kg/day, making it better suited to larger families and kitchens with heavier daily food-scrap volume.

For the full material guide, use What Can You Compost at Home?.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Best By mean?

In current U.S. federal guidance, Best By or Best If Used By generally identifies the period when a food is expected to have its best flavor or quality. It is not automatically a safety expiration date.

What does Sell By mean?

Sell By tells retailers how long to display a product for inventory management. USDA says it is not a safety date and should not be treated as the date on which food automatically becomes unsafe at home.

What does Use By mean?

For most foods under current U.S. federal guidance, Use By generally indicates the manufacturer's recommended date for peak quality rather than an automatic safety deadline. Product-specific storage limits still apply, and infant formula is an important exception.

Is Best By the same as an expiration date?

No. Best By usually refers to expected quality, while the word “expiration” is often used by consumers much more broadly. Always identify the actual phrase printed on the package.

Is Sell By the same as an expiration date?

No. Sell By is primarily a retail inventory date. What matters at home is how long the food has been stored, whether it has been kept at a safe temperature, and the product-specific food-safety guidance.

Can you eat food after a Best By date?

Some foods may remain acceptable after a Best By date when they have been stored properly and remain within any applicable safe storage limits. The printed quality date alone should not be used as the sole safety test.

Can you eat food after a Use By date?

It depends on the product and jurisdiction. For many U.S. foods, Use By is primarily quality-based, but product-specific safety guidance can require a shorter storage window. Infant formula should not be used after its Use By date.

Can you eat food after a Sell By date?

A Sell By date alone does not determine household food safety. Follow the food's refrigerator or freezer storage guidance. For example, USDA generally recommends using or freezing fresh poultry and ground meat within 1–2 days after purchase.

Why does infant formula have a real Use By date?

FDA requires infant formula to carry a Use By date because the manufacturer guarantees the nutrient content and quality only through that date. FDA says not to feed infant formula after the date has passed.

Does food smell tell you if it is safe?

No. Spoilage odors, slime, mold and abnormal appearance can indicate that food should not be eaten, but some harmful microorganisms may be present without producing obvious smell or appearance changes. Time, temperature and product-specific safety guidance still matter.

What matters more: the printed date or refrigerator storage time?

For high-risk perishable foods, the safe refrigerator-storage window can be more restrictive than the printed date. Follow the shorter food-safety limit rather than assuming a future date on the package makes the food safe indefinitely.

What should I do with food before it expires?

Plan meals around foods that need to be used first, keep an Eat First area, label opening dates, freeze food before its safe storage window closes, and repurpose leftovers while they are still safe.

Should I compost food just because the Best By date passed?

No. A passed Best By date alone does not mean a food must be discarded. First determine the date type, storage history, product-specific safety window and condition of the food.

Can spoiled food go into GEME?

Suitable organic food may be processed in GEME according to product material guidance, but food safety comes first. Do not handle or taste questionable food unnecessarily, and follow appropriate disposal precautions for recalled, contaminated or hazardous material.

Sources

• USDA FSIS — What Is Open Dating?
• USDA FSIS — Is Dating of Shelf-Stable Food Required by Federal Law?
• FDA — How to Cut Food Waste and Maintain Food Safety
• FDA — Handling Infant Formula Safely
• USDA FSIS — Meat and Poultry After a Sell-By Date
• GEME — Food Storage Guide
• GEME — How to Reduce Food Waste at Home

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