I love concise, direct and easy to understand information! And that’s exactly what I got from The Bulb’s, Lindsay Kappius, regarding food date stamping at a holiday nonprofit event at Patagonia, Charlotte, last week.

But first: confusion. I’m sure you’ve seen labels printed on packages like the red circled area on the yogurt container above that read, “May be sold until date stamped on package”. Right next to those printed words you see “FEB 01 2025”. What exactly do “May be sold…” and the stamped date mean? Is that yogurt safe to eat after that date?

Quick answer: yes, it’s safe to eat – as long as you keep it appropriately refrigerated and are aware of signs of food spoilage.

Now, concise and direct clarity; As you can see in the middle column at the top of the printed sheet below, “May be sold until date stamped on package” as printed on the yogurt container above translates to “Sell By” date. As defined by The Bulb, a Charlotte, NC, mobile farmers market and fresh produce conservation, education and distribution nonprofit source, the “Sell By” date is a suggested date “when the product should be sold, assuming its remaining shelf life will occur in your pantry” or, my edit, in your refrigerator, as noted above with the yogurt example.

Suggested? Yes, exactly – and definitely not hard and fast. As you can see in the “What Date-Labeling Phrases are Used?” image below from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – and note the underlined first sentence about “no uniform or universally accepted use on food labels for open dating in the US”, The Bulb guidelines correspond directly with USDA guidelines. The same can be said about what I underlined in red in the section in the middle of The Bulb page above about the dates and whether or not a dated food is safe to eat.

Regarding food safety, always beware of signs of spoilage exactly as noted on The Bulb guidelines above and in the section labeled Are Foods Safe to Eat After the Date Passes? on the USDA site that reads:

As with most guidelines, it all comes down to common sense. The only problem: common sense isn’t common until you’re first introduced to that idea or sense. After that, you’re on the hook.

I hope what you saw above helped clarify food labeling dates. I know, even after many decades of life, food shopping and cooking, it sure helped me nail down what those dates really mean, and I agree completely that they should be taken as suggestions!