Tightly closing the bag on chips, bread, and other packaged products can keep those foods fresher longer. Even some products that show age can be used. A block of cheese that might have a small amount of mold on the outside can be salvaged simply by trimming away the mold. There is also a misconception that dated food products are hazardous to your health. That's not always the case.
Consumers often confuse the sell-by date printed on the package as a food safety issue.
The dates are stamped on so there can be a rotation of stock within the warehouse or within the retail store. A box of cereal with a sell-by date isn't going to go bad if you haven't consumed it before that date. On the other hand, meats should be consumed or frozen by the sell-by date. More often than before, that food is ending up as part of the emergency food network that provides meals to the one of every eight Oregonians who need food assistance. More than 401,000 emergency food boxes were prepared in Oregon last year, another 2.6 million pounds of food delivered on site.