Most food that ends up in the bin labeled “expired” was never actually expired. It was past a date printed on the packaging that most people misread — and that distinction is costing households real money while filling landfills unnecessarily.
There are two distinct types of date labels on food. They mean completely different things. And the confusion between them accounts for an enormous share of avoidable food waste worldwide.
Two labels, two completely different meanings
”Use By” — the safety date
This is the only date that actually matters for food safety. It tells you that beyond this point, the food may no longer be safe to eat, regardless of how it looks or smells. Pathogen levels can reach unsafe thresholds without any visible change in the product.
Use-by dates appear on genuinely perishable items:
- Raw meat and fresh fish
- Fresh dairy (short-life pasteurized milk, some fresh yogurts)
- Ready-to-eat refrigerated meals
- Certain fresh juices
In the EU, it’s illegal to sell a product past its use-by date. In the US, only infant formula is federally required to carry a use-by date — but manufacturers apply it voluntarily to other perishables.
Respect this date. It exists to protect your health, and sensory checks alone are not reliable enough to catch every unsafe product.
”Best Before” / “Best If Used By” — the quality date
This date has nothing to do with safety. It’s the manufacturer’s estimate of when the product will be at its best quality — peak flavor, texture, aroma. After this date, quality may gradually decline, but the food does not automatically become dangerous.
Most of what’s in your pantry carries this label:
- Dry pasta, rice, and legumes
- Canned and jarred goods
- Cereals, crackers, and biscuits
- Oil, vinegar, sauces, and condiments
- Eggs (in the EU and many other regions)
- Coffee, tea, spices, and herbs
- Chocolate and confectionery
- Most frozen foods
A bag of pasta three months past its best-before date is, in nearly every case, completely safe to eat. It may taste slightly less vibrant. That is the entire consequence.
The scale of the confusion
The data on this is striking. Research published in 2025 found that 88% of US consumers discard food near its label date at least occasionally — and that date label confusion drives nearly 85% of Americans to throw away food prematurely that is still safe to eat.
Globally, estimates suggest that date-label confusion accounts for 10 to 20% of all avoidable household food waste. In Canada, households discard an average of $246 worth of still-edible food per year because of misread date labels. In the European Union, only 47% of citizens correctly understand what a best-before label means, and only 40% understand what a use-by date implies.
How to actually tell if food is safe
The best tool you have — especially for best-before products — is your senses:
- Smell: if it smells wrong, don’t eat it. If it smells normal, that is a strong signal.
- Look: visible mold is always a stop. A significant color change worth investigating is anything that doesn’t match the product’s normal variation.
- Texture: dry products that have become damp, or items with a clearly changed consistency, deserve scrutiny.
- Taste: if the first three checks pass, a small taste can settle any remaining doubt for most products.
These checks work because the sensory changes caused by microbial growth or oxidation are usually detectable before food becomes truly dangerous — particularly for products carrying a best-before label rather than a use-by.
The foods that confuse people most
Eggs: In the EU and many other countries, eggs carry a best-before date, not a use-by. A simple freshness test: submerge the egg in water. Flat on the bottom means fresh; standing upright on the bottom means older but likely still fine; floating means discard.
Milk: Depends on the type. UHT (ultra-pasteurized) milk carries a best-before date and stays shelf-stable for months. Short-life pasteurized milk may carry a use-by date. The label words matter here.
Yogurt: Usually carries a best-before date in most markets. An unopened yogurt is very often still safe and palatable for days or weeks past the printed date.
Dry pasta and rice: Best-before only. These are safe well beyond the printed date if the packaging is intact, with no moisture or pest contamination.
Canned goods: The best-before date on a can marks the manufacturer’s quality guarantee, not a safety cliff. A properly stored, undamaged can is typically safe to consume considerably beyond that date, though quality will gradually diminish.
Knowing what you have changes what you do
The root problem isn’t negligence. It’s that when you don’t know what’s in your pantry and what’s approaching its date, you make decisions blind: you buy what you assume is running low, you reach for the newest items, the older ones get pushed back — and when they resurface, the date has passed and they go in the bin without a second thought.
Knowing in advance which items are approaching their use-by date — the actual safety date, not a quality estimate — is what lets you plan meals around the most perishable things first. Not as an optimization exercise, but as the most practical way to eat what you already bought.
Have a question about a specific food? Write to us at hola@syncdiet.com