You reach into your pantry for a can of tomatoes to make shakshuka, black beans for an easy weeknight casserole, or tuna for a classic melt, but before you open the tin, you notice it's just past its ...

Date labels. Expiration dates. Best-by dates. Whatever you call them, at some point, you’ve probably squinted at those tiny dot-matrix-printed numbers and wondered: “Does this mean my cheese might ...

They aren't expiration clocks. Best-by dates don't reflect safety, so foods often remain edible well beyond the printed date. Manufacturers add built-in buffers to best-by dates, allowing many ...