Difference between sell by date, use by date, and expiration date

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Expand view Topic review: Difference between sell by date, use by date, and expiration date

by Frugalforever2024 » Tue Sep 02, 2025 7:38 pm

Thank You Sparky!  I always come back to this post when I forget.

by Frugalforever2024 » Thu Feb 13, 2025 12:16 am

Egglands best Eggs are my favorite eggs, and they are still good long after the use by date.  Just can't find them anymore

by Amused » Thu Aug 15, 2024 4:28 am

We use milk and chocolate milk up to a week after it expires and it's always fine as long as it is kept cold.

by BusyBusy » Tue Sep 19, 2023 3:48 am

Interesting. In my experience any dry foods will remain fine as long as they are stored in the dark and are unopened.
Survivalist will store things like salt, sugar, flour, dried beans, etc for years and years. I don't even know if they ever rotate it.

Stores have been known to remove a sell by date and replace it with a later date if stuff is about to go out of date.

by Sparky » Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:44 pm

This might be good to know.

A sell by date is an indication of when a product should be removed from a store’s shelves. This date is used by retailers to help ensure that products are fresh and of good quality. The sell by date is not an indication of food safety, and consumers should not necessarily discard food that has passed the sell by date. 

An expiration date indicates when a product should no longer be consumed. This date is determined by the manufacturer and is based on food safety. It is important to pay attention to expiration dates, as consuming a food past this date can cause food poisoning or other health issues. 

A use by date is similar to an expiration date and indicate when a certain food item should no longer be consumed. This date is determined by the manufacturer and is based on food safety, but it is often more conservative than an expiration date. It is important to pay attention to use by dates, as consuming a food item that is past this date can cause food poisoning or other health issues. 

So, the sell by date tells you when a product should be removed from store shelves, the expiration date tells you when a product should no longer be consumed, and the use by date tells you when a product should no longer be consumed and is often more conservative

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