Can I use past-dated foods?

No. To begin with, all the states (50) and the District of Columbia and U.S. territories (6) establish their own open-dating requirements on most foods. Open-dating means that the consumer can look at the date and understand it (10/16/2006 or March 2006). Code dating is where there is a cod stamped on the package, such as 00789 or ABC789. The food handler would need to contact the processor/packer to determine the meaning of the code date. Code dates are stamped on packages of processed food (not raw/fresh foods) so that processors/packers can identify the lot in the event that a product is recalled. Open-dates are not always required by law and are used to help consumers make decisions about the quality, not the safety) of the food.

Secondly, one has to remember that the dates on food packages are established by the processor/packer as indicators of quality and not as an indicator of safety. There are minimal regulatory guidelines as to how a processor/packer establishes these open dates. For example, one packer of sandwiches could establish the use by date of a sandwich as two days, another could establish it as seven days. It varies widely.

A food is not unsafe to eat simply because it is past-dated. One can eat a past-dated food that has been properly handled. Remember -- the primary reasons that food becomes unsafe are:

Temperature abuse, which can happen easily before the date stamped on the package.
Cross-contamination -- improper storage or dented/torn/broken packaging.
Poor personal hygiene

All of these could occur before or after a food becomes past-dated.

The only products that are not to be sold or served past the expiration date is infant formula. Infant formula has an expiration date stamped on the package. The law does not permit infant formula to be sold past the expiration date as the nutritive value of the product could be significantly reduced. Over the county drugs, vitamins, baking powder, mixes with baking powder, and yeast should not be used as their functionality is significantly reduced over time. For example, if one uses expired yeast, their bread might not rise. The bread is still safe, the bread will probably just be flat and hard.