Write a best-by date with the phrase "Best if Used By" right next to it, the month in letters, the day, and the year: BEST IF USED BY DEC 21 2026. Spelling out the month means nobody reads 03/04 as April 3 or March 4. Federal law doesn't require a date on most food at all, infant formula being the exception, but if you put one on, USDA and FDA both recommend "Best if Used By", and USDA's rules for meat, poultry and egg products ask for the month and day, plus the year on frozen and shelf-stable products.
The short version
- Use the phrase "Best if Used By" unless you have a reason not to. Put it directly next to the date.
- Write the month in three letters, then the day, then the four-digit year.
- Keep the same order on every product, and print it where the customer will look, near the lot code.
- Set the date from testing, with a margin, not from what similar products say.
- TaroStack keeps the date on every lot, and uses it to pick, plan and warn. More below.
What the rules actually require
Very little, federally. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service says that except for infant formula, product dating isn't required by federal regulations (USDA FSIS), and FDA says the same of packaged food in general: except for infant formula, manufacturers aren't required by federal law or regulation to put quality-based date labels on it (FDA). Infant formula must carry a "Use by" date, with the month and year (21 CFR 107.20(c)).
If you do date a meat, poultry or egg product under USDA inspection, the date has to be truthful and not misleading: the calendar date must show the month and the day, the year too for shelf-stable and frozen products, and immediately next to the date there must be a phrase saying what it means, such as "Best if Used By". The same page notes that dates on egg cartons can also be governed by the egg laws of the state they're sold in.
USDA and FDA both recommend "Best if Used By", and both say other truthful, non-misleading phrases such as "Sell By" or "Use By" aren't prohibited. In December 2024 the two agencies asked the industry and the public for information on date labeling practices and confusion (FDA). Check the current rules before a big print run, and check your state's, which can differ for particular foods.
This is general information, not legal advice; your inspector has the last word.
Which phrase
USDA's own definitions:
| Phrase | What it means |
|---|---|
| Best if Used By (or Before) | When the product will be at its best flavor or quality. Not a purchase or safety date |
| Use By | The last date recommended for use while at peak quality. Not a safety date, except on infant formula |
| Sell By | How long the store should display it. Not a safety date |
| Freeze By | When to freeze it to keep peak quality |
"Best if Used By" is the one to use for most things, because it says what's true: after the date the quality may decline, and the food may still be fine. A refrigerated item with a short life is where "Use By" turns up, and some makers choose it there on purpose. My view is to keep "Best if Used By" unless your food safety plan treats the date as a safety limit, and to ask your inspector if you're not sure which yours is.
"Sell By" is for the store, not the customer, and confuses people at home. I'd leave it off.
How to write the date
| Written as | Example | The trouble |
|---|---|---|
| Month in letters, day, year | DEC 21 2026 | None. This is the one |
| Numbers, US order | 12/21/26 | 03/04/27 reads as April 3 to much of the world |
| Day first | 21 DEC 2026 | Fine, as long as every product uses the same order |
| Year first, numbers | 2026-12-21 | Unambiguous, but unfamiliar to most shoppers |
| A Julian or coded date | 6355 | Not for customers; it's for your own tracking |
Three letters for the month, the day, and a four-digit year is the format nobody misreads. Put the phrase directly before it, on the same line if you can: BEST IF USED BY DEC 21 2026. Print it large and dark enough to read under store lighting, on a part of the package that isn't folded, sealed over or covered by a price sticker.
Put the lot code next to it. The two answer different questions (how long it's good, and which batch it is), and the person handling a complaint needs both. Coded dates are covered in the Julian date code format and lot codes in lot number on food packaging.
How to set the date
The date is your promise about quality, so it should come from evidence:
- Keep samples from a few batches in the conditions a customer will keep them: on a shelf, in a fridge.
- Taste, look and smell at set intervals, and write down what you find. For some products, a lab test of moisture or rancidity tells you more than tasting.
- Find the point where the quality drops below what you'd sell.
- Set the date well short of it, to cover warm trucks and sunny shop windows.
Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, kept bags of chips from three batches and found them still crisp at 120 days, then softening. It prints 90 days: BEST IF USED BY DEC 21 2026 on chips packed September 22. That margin is a judgment call, and it's the kind your buyers will ask about, because wholesale customers can want a minimum amount of that shelf life left when your product arrives. That's its own subject, in minimum remaining shelf life.
For foods where a date has a safety role, such as some refrigerated ready-to-eat foods, the date belongs in your food safety plan, set with whoever helped you write it, not only by taste.
Where this stops working
The label is the easy part. Once the date is printed, it has to be managed: lots on the shelf in date order, the oldest used first, a customer's minimum days met at shipping, and the cases that will expire unsold found while there's still time to do something. On paper that's a list of lots with dates, kept current by hand, which is exactly the list that goes stale in a busy week.
How TaroStack does it
In TaroStack the date on the label is the date in the system. Every lot carries its production and best-before or use-by dates, from the moment a batch is recorded or a delivery is received, and the lot that expires first is used and picked first by default. A customer's minimum days of shelf life is stored on their account, so a wholesale order is picked from a lot that still meets it. Lot labels print with your lot code, and, if the item has a GTIN, a GS1-128 barcode carrying the date and the lot.
Then the date works for you. The expiring-stock forecast shows what will reach its date unsold, at the rate each item really sells, and what that's worth, with an alert in the app or by email before it happens. Expired stock and anything on hold stop counting as available, so a case past its date isn't shipped by accident.
Lots and expiry are on every plan, from $49 a month, and the first 30 days are free. Your products and lots, with their dates, import from a spreadsheet. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.