Expiration Dates: When They Don't Matter, When They Don't

Let’s be clear about something: we’re not here to tell you that everything you eat is expiration-proof. It’s not.

That said, a lot of what’s on your cupboard shelves isn’t going to kill you if you eat it past the date that’s printed on the box.

Contrary to what you might think, there are no federal regulations that govern expiration dates, apart from those on infant food and baby formula. (A few states have rules when it comes to dairy products.) But just about every other expiration date is decided by food manufacturers, and that date has nothing to do with safety.

This is just one of the tidbits I learned while researching this week’s food segment, with the help of Dr. Ted Labuza and Nadia Arumugam.

Here are a few more that might help you decide whether to eat or toss that dusty box in the back of your pantry:

1. There are three main terms used by manufacturers (and again, none of these are related to food safety):

• Sell by date: The grocer is supposed to sell the product by this day for the "maximum deliciousness" to remain intact.
• Expiration date: The manufacturer has decided that the food will be unacceptable to 50% of consumers who eat it after this date, and fear consumers would likely wait at least a year before trying the product again.
• Best if used by date: Usually found on cereals and dry goods and semi-moist products, this label indicates to a consumer when the food will begin to taste less than perfect.

2. Some foods have no expiration dates. They include:

• Sugar (as long as it’s not exposed to too much humidity)
• Salt (again, as long as it remains dry)
• Alcohol (flavor compounds might degrade over time, but the alcohol itself won’t)

3. Some foods that we’re told don’t have expiration dates, actually do. They include:

• Honey, which has yeast presence that can grow and ferment and turn it into alcohol
• Vinegar, which can grow mold and vinegar eels (especially in fermented basalmic)

4. Storage is often more important than age when it comes to a food's safety. Most canned goods and sealed dried goods are safe well after the expiration date has passed if they're stored consistently at seventy degrees. That being said, if the food was contaminated prior to packaging (during manufacturing), it will just get worse with age. This happened recently with a certain brand of peanut butter and the outcome was not pretty.