A “Best if Used By/Before” date indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality.  It is not a purchase or safety date.

A “Sell-By” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management.  It is not a safety date.

A “Use-By” date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It is not a safety date (except for when used on infant formula).

An “Expiry Date” is not the same as a Best By date. Foods that have passed their expiry dates are deemed not to have the same nutrient content as declared on the food label and should be discarded. In certain countries like Canada, it only applies to very narrow categories of food products including infant formula, meal replacements and formulated liquid diets.

Apart from products with strict expiry dates, and maybe more sensitive foods like fresh milk, seafood, meat, etc., most dried/ processed foods that have past their sell by, best before and use by dates are actually perfectly edible. In fact, inspecting all our packaged foods whether it is past their best before, sell by, use by and expiry dates is a good habit to have – as foods may spoil depending on storage conditions and many other factors even if they have not reached expiry, while most foods can stay edible for a long time past their best by dates.

Piqued and want to learn even more about these dates? We’ve put together a comprehensive list of articles in our supplementary resources below for your exploration.