What guidance does the FDA have for Expiration Dates?

Selling food past the expiration date in some cases is not a violation of FDA's regulations or law. To explain, FDA's regulations pertain, among other things, to food safety. The quality characteristics of foods (taste, aroma and appearance--as distinct from safety characteristics) often depend in great part on good storage conditions: temperature and humidity control in the retail store and warehouse. When storage conditions have been optimal, many foods are acceptable in terms of taste and other quality characteristics for periods of time beyond the expiration date printed on the label, and also are safe to eat. Taste and other quality characteristics deteriorate more rapidly if the food is stored at elevated temperatures and high humidity conditions (such as would occur if the air conditioning failed in a retail store, warehouse, or in the consumer's home. Conversely, deterioration occurs very slowly if foods are stored under optimal conditions (correct storage temperatures and low humidity). Because the expiration date is not indicative of product quality if storage conditions have been less than optimal, FDA does not require expiration dates on most products. An exception to this answer is that expiration dates are required on drugs. The dates required on infant formula products are "use by" dates, not "expiration" dates. A consumer using the infant formula product before this date is assured that the product meets nutritional and quality standards.