Edit : Best if used BY*
I went to Ralph’s today for this queso dip I usually get. It’s a refrigerated product kept in the dairy department. It had a Best By date of AUGUST of THIS year (don’t ask me why. I almost thought about informing a staff member but didn’t want to look stupid if it wasn’t a huge deal). The queso did not have any expiration date written on the product. I sadly just decided to not get it. I understand that Best If Used By dates are technically different from Expiration dates.. but how much different when it comes to refrigerated products? If I purchased it& waited a few days to a week or two before consumption , I wouldn’t know when it would for sure expire..
In: 70
A lot of products are trying to move to the “best by,” dating system because a lot of foods don’t have a hard expiration date and can be safely consumed for quite a while after. Since the actual “don’t eat this anymore,” date can vary based on a wide variety of factors, our eyes and noses are still a lot better at detecting when things actually go bad. The “best by,” is a better way of saying “hey, this is still probably good for a little while longer, but still make sure you give it a sniff test before you eat/drink this.”
The main benefit is preventing people wasting food that wasn’t actually bad yet which was a big problem with the old system.
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