And how do you tell an expiry date
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It depends on the product. Some products expire when the amount of bacteria and fungi in it might reach a significant toxic level. Some products react with oxygen in the air and become rancid. Some products have chemical reactions between various chemicals in it changing their properties. We know which issues is the worst with each product and can measure this in lab experiments. So for example you can measure how fast the fat in the product reacts to the oxygen in the air to become rancid and you can do taste tests for when people notice that the food taste bad. Using this you can calculate when the food goes rancid.
It should be noted that these are predictions. They are not usually right. Manufacturers try to put the expiry date as soon as possible so that if the manufacturing process is a bit off and if the product is stored badly it will still not expire before the date. If there is a risk that the product expire before being sold they would rather put inn stabelizing agents, for example vitamin-c as an antioxidant making the fat take longer to become rancid. So you should not take the expiry date for gospel. Most food is perfectly eatable after the expiry date, especially if it have been stored properly and is prepared properly.
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