Common Date Labels and Their Meaning

There’s more to figuring out if goods are past their prime than just expiration dates. So what are these other dates on your food and what they mean?

You’ll notice sell-by dates on a lot of products at stores. This is the date the store needs to sell the product by, and doesn’t mean you need to use it by that date.

There’s also “best-by” or “use by” dates for when you need to use the product to ensure the best quality. A lot of dates on food packaging are based on the quality of the flavor or the texture of food and not necessarily on the safety of the food. If you’ve ever wondered, “Is this safe to eat?” about something in your cupboard, the odds are that it’s probably safe, but it may not taste that good.

Sometimes there are other numbers or dates on food products without labels – these are packing numbers or closed dates used by the manufacturer and not something you need to worry about.

So how do we know when things are safe or good for consumption? I’ve outlined some general rules of thumb to help make it easier.

The Pantry

With canned foods, you can store low-acid good like soup or beans for 2-5 years and high-acid food like tomatoes or grapefruit for 12-18 months. Most importantly with canned goods, you want to watch out for bumps or dents and make sure there are no leaks. Even if there’s a small dent in the can, there’s a possibility that the inner lining is broken, in which case you don’t want to use these products.

Here are some general guidelines for pantry items:

• Pasta, rice, dry mixes: 2 years
• Peanut butter: 1-2 years
• Low-acid canned goods (meat and poultry, stews, soups, potatoes, corn, carrots) 2-5 years
• High-acid canned goods (tomatoes, grapefruit, pineapple, peaches, pickles) 12-18 months
• Vacuum packed meat: 18 months

If the packaging is intact, many pantry items are safe to use beyond their expiration or best-by dates.

Refrigerated Items

Products like milk, eggs, and yogurt are usually marked with a “sell-by” date with the intent that you’re going to take them home and store them in the fridge for a while.

Here are some rules of thumb for how long you can store refrigerated items:

• Milk: 5-7 days after “sell-by” date
• Yogurt: 7-10 days after “sell-by” date
• Eggs: 3-5 weeks after “sell-by” date
• Fresh Meats: use by “use by” date
• Lunch meat or other processed meats: use by “use by” date, or 5-7 days after opening

You do want to use all meats by the Use-By date.

Freezer Items

A lot of people like to stock their freezer with food. Once you freeze something, it’s good indefinitely. As long as it’s frozen, you ignore all expiration dates. That changes if something has been thawed, or thawed and refrozen.

Sometimes when you thaw something that has been frozen for a while, there’s freezer-burn and it just doesn’t taste the same. You can trim off the freezer-burn portion. You can use the remaining portion in a soup or casserole where the taste will be less noticeable. It may taste different, but it’s still safe to use.

There's an App for That

So how do you remember all of these numbers? There’s a great app called Food Keeper, which lets you look up how long you can store any food, including condiments. The app is free and easy to use and may help you clear out the pantry this spring. 

Ali explains Food Expiration Labels on Good Things Utah