Labels on food are confusing for all kinds of reasons. Here’s what they mean.
By Christina Couch. Originally published in The New York Times on August 19, 2025.
Emily Broad Leib is quoted in this article.
When you open your fridge, how often do you check the dates on your food? The yogurt container says it’s still good for a few more days, but the label on the half-used barbecue sauce says it was best before last Sunday. Should you still eat it?
The answer is complicated. Dates on food packaging usually indicate when food tastes best, not when it’s unsafe to eat. In the United States, there are roughly 50 variations of date labels, including “use by,” “sell by” and “packaged on,” nearly all of which indicate when quality or freshness begins declining.
While it’s important to mind the printed dates for some foods, an estimated three billion pounds of food get thrown away each year because of confusion over the date label, according to the food waste nonprofit ReFED. Infant formula is the only product that has standardized, federally regulated date labels, leaving lots of questions about when to toss other aging perishables.
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