Use By vs. Expiry Date in Fast Food: Legality of Selling Past-Date Items

Is it a illegal to sell "expired meat; poultry and other food items to the public? In Fast Food Restaurants?

What does "Used Through Date January 24, 2025" mean?

"Use By January 24, 2025?"

Hi toesedan,

:welcome:

Welcome to the IFSQN forums.

I would suggest that you change your username as you are likely to attract spam using your gmail address as your username.

It is a use by date, for some products (such as raw meats that are going to be cooked) it could be extended by freezing provided adequate documented controls and facilities were in place. It wouldn’t be good practice for this to be a significant period such as with this product that expired nearly 4 months ago.

It is preferable to have an adequate stock rotation system in place (FIFO/FEFO) such that foods are used fresh and not being kept until their expiry.

Kind regards,

Tony

Hi toesedan -

You can enter 'usda fsis food product dating' into any search engine, and several guidances will pop up applicable to the US.

Keith