Understanding Food Expiration Dates: Best By vs Sell By vs Use By

Those date labels on your food aren't what you think they are. Misunderstanding them causes Americans to throw away billions of pounds of perfectly good food every year.

Best By (or Best Before)

This date indicates peak quality, not safety. Food stored properly is typically safe to eat well past this date. It's the manufacturer's guarantee of optimal taste and texture.

Sell By

This date is for retailers, not consumers. It tells the store how long to display the product for sale. You can safely consume the food for days or even weeks after this date.

Use By

This is the most conservative date and relates to safety, but primarily for baby formula and certain ready-to-eat foods. For most other products, it's still a quality indicator.

Expiration Date

This is the only date that truly relates to safety, and it's mostly used on medications and baby formula. For regular groceries, this term is rarely used on labels.

What the USDA Says

The USDA confirms that most food is safe well beyond the dates on the label when stored properly. The key factors are storage temperature, packaging integrity, and the type of food.

How ShelfCents Helps

Rather than relying solely on printed dates, ShelfCents uses AI to predict actual remaining shelf life based on the food type, storage conditions, and purchase date. This gives you a more accurate picture of when food actually needs to be used.