Decoding date labels: best by, sell by, use by

Americans throw away an estimated $160 billion of food a year, much of it because of confusing labels. Here's what each one actually means.

The big secret: most labels aren't about safety

With one exception (infant formula), no federal law requires food date labels in the U.S. The dates are manufacturer estimates of peak quality, not safety cliffs.

Best By / Best If Used By

Means: Manufacturer's estimate of peak flavor and quality.

What you should do: Use this as a guideline. Most foods are safe and tasty for days, weeks, or even months past this date.

• Canned goods: 1-3+ years past
• Dry pasta: 1+ year past
• Crackers, cookies: 6 months past (may go stale)
• Yogurt: 1-2 weeks past
• Eggs: 3-5 weeks past (do the float test)

Sell By

Means: A guide for stores, not consumers. Stores pull the product on this date.

What you should do: Ignore the label number. Look at the food. Most products have additional shelf life after sell-by.

• Milk: 5-7 days past sell-by (smell test)
• Yogurt: 1-2 weeks past
• Sliced deli meat: 3-5 days past (more conservative — listeria risk)

Use By

Means: The strongest of the labels. Manufacturer's estimate of last day for peak quality.

What you should do: For most foods, treat like “best by” — quality marker. Exception: infant formula, which is the only federally regulated date label. Don't use formula past use-by.

Expiration / EXP

Means: Closest to a true safety date, often used for perishables. Take this seriously for highly perishable foods (raw meat, prepared salads).

The five real spoilage signs (trust these over labels)

1. Smell — sour, ammonia, rotten = toss. The nose is reliable for ~90% of spoilage.
2. Texture — slimy meat, mushy produce, dried-out cheese = quality lost.
3. Color — gray meat, browned greens, pink fish = often still safe but lower quality.
4. Mold — visible fuzz on most foods = toss. Hard cheese (parmesan, cheddar) is the exception: cut 1 inch around mold, rest is safe per USDA.
5. Bulging cans — botulism risk. Discard immediately. Don't even taste.

When to be strict (don't push these)

• Raw poultry past use-by
• Ground meat past sell-by + 1 day
• Cooked seafood after 2-3 days
• Soft cheeses with any mold (toss whole thing)
• Pre-cut melons that smelled funny
• Anything from a pregnant person's plate
• Infant formula past use-by — only legally regulated date

When you can be flexible (with smell/look check)

• Yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream
• Hard cheeses
• Eggs (float test in water — sinks = good, floats = toss)
• Bread (smell for vinegar/mold)
• Frozen anything (quality may drop, safety persists)
• Canned goods (1-3+ years past with no can damage)
• Honey, vinegar, sugar, salt — basically forever

Look up specific foods on our database →

Sources: USDA FSIS, FDA, FoodSafety.gov, NRDC food waste report. Last reviewed January 2025.