The Truth About Expiration Dates (Use By, Sell By, and Best By) | America’s Test Kitchen



If food is past the expiration date, do you toss it out? What’s the difference between “use by”, “sell by”, “best by”, and the other dates labeled on your groceries? Watch this episode with Jack Bishop to find out.

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24 Comments

  1. In Canada, it's mostly "best before dates," which to the best of my knowledge means that the producer can not ensure that the products' quality is near 100 percent past that date. Many people in Canada confuse this with an "expiration date" which was used moreso in the past and people would consider to mean that the food is expired and no longer good.

  2. I just ate some canned tuna marked “best by 2023”.
    Tasted fine. Texture was ok, but not as good as a fresher version …was slightly mealier. I made tuna melt sandwiches with it. All still alive. 😊

  3. Your mom with dementia is not going to be able to smell it accurately or follow the logic of why it has to go. She will insist you are wasting food at best, or destroying her financially at worst. Smell is one of the first things to go with neurodegenerative diseases. Logic is the next. Good luck. Toss it and replace it with a dupe with a later date.

  4. You know something’s wrong when even water has a date on it. Water doesn’t spoil or go bad except under very specific conditions which don’t include sitting on a shelf.

  5. The packaged salads barely last a day after opening before they start to brown. I also avoid the “managers specials” in the meat department. That’s the meat they’re ready to throw out.

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