Ed Pawlowski wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On 4/5/2016 10:24 AM, Gary wrote:
>
> >
> > Here's a good one. I bought an 8oz package of Crystal Farms
> > cream cheese forever ago. The "use by" date is Sept.10,2015.
> > That's almost 7 months ago.
> >
> > What would Julie do in this case? Same as me...toss it.
> >
> > Just for the heck of it, I just opened it up to smell.
> > hmmmm...it looks and smells perfectly fine but I'll still
> > trash it. That amount of time does bother me. I can
> > buy another on sale for only $1.50.
> >
>
> No mold? I'd use it. I'd used it a few months past the date already.

Many of thse dates are actually 'best used by' (for taste or a minor
drop in nutrition) and many are artificial. Grin, my salt has an
expiration on it. Really?

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