Are 'Sell By' and 'Best By' Food Dates Federally Required?

The federal records cited here identify infant formula as an exception to voluntary product dating: its label must carry a “use by” date. The joint FSIS/FDA notice says product dating is otherwise not required by federal regulations, while a separate poultry regulation sets conditions for a calendar date if one is used. This article reports what these records say about dates such as “sell by,” “best by,” and “use by”; it does not evaluate food safety or tell readers what to do with dated food.

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This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

Infant formula is the one federal exception: the FDA’s regulation requires “A ‘Use by ____’ date, the blank to be filled in with the month and year selected by the manufacturer, packer, or distributor” (21 CFR 107.20(c)).
That infant formula date must be backed by “tests or other information showing that the infant formula, until that date, under the conditions of handling, storage, preparation, and use prescribed by label directions, will” meet standards set in the same regulation.
For poultry products, a date is optional: “A calendar date may be shown on labeling when declared in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph” (9 CFR 381.129(c)).
If a calendar date does appear on a poultry product, federal rules require it to be explained: “Immediately adjacent to the calendar date will be a phrase explaining the meaning of such date in terms of ‘packing’ date, ‘sell by’ date, or ‘use before’ date” (9 CFR 381.129(c)).
FSIS and FDA jointly recommend, without requiring, one label wording: “Both FSIS and FDA recommend that food industry members voluntarily apply the ‘Best if Used By’ food date label” (89 FR 96205).

The only mandatory date: infant formula

Federal regulation singles out infant formula for a mandatory date requirement. Under 21 CFR 107.20(c), formula labeling must include “A ‘Use by ____’ date, the blank to be filled in with the month and year selected by the manufacturer, packer, or distributor.” That date is not arbitrary — the same section ties it to evidence that the product will still perform as intended: “tests or other information showing that the infant formula, until that date, under the conditions of handling, storage, preparation, and use prescribed by label directions, will” meet the applicable nutritional and quality requirements.

The joint FSIS/FDA Request for Information that covers general food date labeling explicitly carves this category out of its scope, noting “Accordingly, infant formula date labeling is outside the scope of this Request for Information” (89 FR 96205). In other words, the general “dates are voluntary” rule discussed below does not apply to infant formula — it has its own separate, mandatory federal date requirement.

Poultry products: permitted, not required

For poultry products, 9 CFR 381.129(c) treats a calendar date as optional labeling. It states: “A calendar date may be shown on labeling when declared in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph.” This regulation permits a processor to put a date on the package; it does not state that the processor must do so.

But the same regulation attaches a condition to any date that is used. It cannot stand alone; it must be paired with wording that tells the reader what the date means: “Immediately adjacent to the calendar date will be a phrase explaining the meaning of such date in terms of ‘packing’ date, ‘sell by’ date, or ‘use before’ date” (9 CFR 381.129(c)). So a bare date with no explanatory phrase would not comply with this rule, even though including a date at all remains the processor’s choice.

The general federal backstop: misbranding law

Outside of infant formula’s mandatory date and FSIS’s date-plus-phrase requirement, the joint FSIS/FDA Request for Information describes the broader federal framework this way: “dates may be voluntarily applied to product labels provided the products are labeled in a manner that is truthful and not misleading” (89 FR 96205). The legal foundation cited for that “truthful and not misleading” standard is the general misbranding prohibition in food law: “a food is misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading in any particular (21 U.S.C. 343(a))” (89 FR 96205).

That means most food date labels are not governed by a rule that specifies their format or wording, but they are still constrained by the same law that prohibits false or misleading labeling generally. A date that a company chooses to print still has to be accurate and not deceptive under that standard.

Recommended date label

FSIS and FDA have issued a joint voluntary recommendation for one standard phrase. The Request for Information states: “Both FSIS and FDA recommend that food industry members voluntarily apply the ‘Best if Used By’ food date label” (89 FR 96205). The notice characterizes that wording as a recommendation rather than a regulatory requirement.

What this article does not answer

This article reports only what these three federal records establish about the legal status of date labels — it does not address whether food is still safe to eat after its printed date has passed, and it does not tell readers what to do with food that is past a printed date; those are separate safety and handling questions that these labeling records do not settle. It also does not cover state-level date-labeling laws, which vary by state and are not addressed by the federal records cited here.