Jump to contentIndependentSwipe for next articleIndependent Bulletin homepageDownload our appAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleOlga R. RodriguezTuesday 28 July 2026 18:31 BSTRelated: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveils 30% grocery discount planMillions of Americans routinely discard perfectly edible food due to widespread misunderstanding of confusing date labels like “Best By” or “Sell By.”A lack of federal standardization for food date labels, with the exception of baby formula, results in over 50 different terms that primarily indicate peak quality, not food safety.Food safety experts confirm that most date labels refer to a product's quality and taste, not when it becomes unsafe for consumption.California became the first state to standardize food labels, mandating manufacturers use only “Best If Used By” for quality and “Use By” for safety, with New York considering similar legislation.Consumers are advised to use their judgment, looking for signs of spoilage like mold or strange odors, and utilize resources like the USDA's FoodKeeper app to determine whether food is safe to eat.In fullThe food date labels you can safely ignore — and the ones you can’t, according to expertsMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in