What Is an Expiration Date?

An expiration date is the last day that a consumable product such as food or medicine will be at its best quality according to the manufacturer. There are s🍬ome important differencesౠ between expiration dates on food and those on medicine.

Expiration dates on food products other than infant formula aren't required by federal law. These dates usually indicate that the food should have its best taste and texture up until that date when they're used. It is an assurance of quality, not an assurance of safety.

Expiration dates on prescription and over-the-counter drugs are mandated by federal law. The dates indicate the period during which the product is guaranteed to be safe and effective based on the manufacturer's internal testing.

How Expiration Dates Work

A product may have a "sell by" date, a "use by" date, a "best by" date, or a "do not use after" date stamped on the package or the container. They all have different meanings but only the "do not use after" date is a warning that the product should be discarded at that date because it may be unsafe, ineffective, or both.

The "sell by" date is meant to tell store clerks when to remove the product from the store's shelves. The "use by" date tells 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:consumers when the product's quality may have deteriorated. The "bes🍌t by" date merely suggests that the product's taste or texture may deteriorate after that date.

Federal law doesn't require food producers to provide any of these dates on food with the sole exception of infant formula. Nor does the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provide much guidance on the proper date labeling of food except infant formula.

The USDA notes that about 30% of the American food supply is "lost or wasted" in part because many consumers toss out food that's still wholesome. It suggests that a smell test or a taste test are more accurate indicators of edibility than a label.

Food Expiration Dates

Expiration date stamps on food began to emerge in the 1970s when consumer advocates complained about the lack of assurances that packaged foods were still safe and edible at the time they were purchased. There have been complaints that the date stamps are intentionally inaccurate to persuade buyers to toss out and replace products that are still good to eat.

Many states have adopted requirements so food producers routinely mark their produ🐻cts regardless of their destinations. Expiration dates on food can therefore be ambiguous but expiration dates on medicine are straightforwardꦛ.

Open dating is a calendar date marked on a food product by the manufacturer or retailer. It's intended to indicate the last date at which the product is guaranteed to be at its best in terms of quality. Closed dating is a code that's unreadable by most consumers. It consists of letters and/or numbers. Manufacturers apply them to record the date and time the item was processed.

The FSIS: Watchdog for Meat, Poultry, and Eggs

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is an agency of the USDA and the public health regulatory agency that's responsible for ensuring that America's supply of meat, poultry, and eggs is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. 

Manufacturers aren't required to mark their products with expiration dates but the labels must be truthful and not misleading if they do. A calendar date must indicate both the month and day of the month. Shelf-stable and frozen products must also display the year. The date must be explained with a phrase such as "best if used by."

Date-labeling Phrases for Food Products

There are no uniform or universally accepted descriptions used on food labels for open dating in the United States. Producers use a variety of phrases on their🎃 labels to describe quality dates.

• Best if used by/before: This indicates the date after which the product may no longer retain its best flavor or quality.
• Sell by: A sell-by date indicates when the product should be removed from store shelves. It's used primarily on refrigerated products. The product is still good for some time after this date.
• Use by: This is the last date on which the product will be at its peak quality. It's not a safety date except when used on infant formula.
• Freeze by: This date indicates the last day on which a product should be frozen to maintain its best quality.
• Expires on/do not use after: These are the only true expiration dates of the bunch. They indicate that the product may be ineffective after this date. Products like cake mix and baking powder may carry this warning.

How Food Manufacturers Decide Quality Dates

Producers and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:retailers determine the date by which a product will be of the best quality by considering factors such as the length of time and the temperature at which a food is stored while it's in transit and while it's being offered for sale. Other factors, such as the particular characteristics of the food and its type of packaging will affect how long a product will be of optimum quality.

Food Safety Tips

The date on perishable food is a good indicator of how long it's been sitting around in a warehouse or on the store shelves. It also suggests that the product may or may not be at its best after the date on the label. These products nonetheless have some shelf life left in them if they're stored and handled properly.

A wise consumer will look, smell, taste, or touch food to check whether it shows any signs of spoilage before throwing it out.

Medication Expiration Dates

Federal regulations require that prescription medicines must be date-stamped. Over-the-counter medicines such as aspirin, cough syrup, and herbal products have expiration dates that are often abbreviated "EXP" followed by a month and year. This indicates the date after which the manufacturer no longer guarantees the potency or effectiveness of the product.

This generally indicates the time for which the manufacturer is certain that the drug is safe and stable based on its product testing. The manufacturer doesn't accept liability for the product beyond that date. It accepts liability for the product only until the package is opened, not until its contents are used up.

Expiration Date Mandate

Foods tend to look, smell, or taste bad when they're no longer edible but the expiration date is the only indication that a prescription drug is still safe and effective.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also mandated in the 1970s that all prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medical products must be marked with an expiration date. The dates for medicines are also often marked "EXP." They might be printed on the label, stamped onto the packaging, or both.

It's especially important to adhere to the expiration dates of pharmaceuticals because their chemical composition can change over time. This ♉can make them less poℱtent, ineffective, or even harmful.

The FDA may extend the expiration date of a drug in some cases if there is a shortage of it. The extended expiration date is based on stability data for the medication that has been reviewed by the FDA.

Discarding Expired Medications

Dumping expired medications in the trash isn't a good idea. There may be disposal instructions on the drug's packaging. You also can check for drug take-back programs in your state or municipality.

U.S. federal guidelines recommend disposing of expired or unwanted medicines by putting them in a bag or container and mixing them with coffee grounds or kitty litter. Some medications can be flushed.

Expiration Dates for Prescription Drug Patents

Expiration dates have another unrelated meaning for prescription drugs. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awards medical patents 𒀰to pharmaceutical companies when a new brand-🎉name drug is released to the market.

The patent protects the drugmaker from having its drug copied by competitors for a time, typically 20 years. The patent exclusivity for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:orphan drugs lasts for seven years. A patent for a new chemical lasts for five years.

The Orange Book is a list of drugs that the FDA has approved as being both safe and effective. It cites the patents for new drugs along with their expiration dates.

A generic drug manufacturer must make a series of certifications to win approval for a drug under the Hatch Waxman Act. The manufacturer must certify that it won't launch its generic product until after the original 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:drug's patent has expired unless the patent is found to be invalid or unenforceable or the generic product won't infringe upon the listed patent.

The Bottom Line

Expiration dates are placed on food and prescription items to ensure the benefit and safety of the consumer. Food expiration dates tend to focus on quality rather than safety. Expiration dates on prescriptions tend to focus on effectiveness and safety. It's always good to check the expiration date for both food and drugs and discard if an item doesn't appear safe after its expiration date.