What does “sell by” mean, and how long does food last after it?

How long food keeps after you buy it

These are federal storage times for a refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or below. If a package has only a sell-by date, or no date, this is the clock to follow. If it also has a use-by date, follow the use-by date.

For anything else, the food expiration calculator takes the food and the day you bought it and gives you the range from USDA's FoodKeeper data.

Why the clock starts at purchase, not at the sell-by date

USDA's answer to “how long is meat or poultry safe to use after the sell-by date?” is written in days from purchase: use or freeze chicken, turkey and ground meat with a sell-by date within 1–2 days of purchase, and beef, veal, pork and lamb within 3–5 days. FDA's storage chart works the same way. It tells you to buy the product before the sell-by or expiration date, and says, “Since product dates aren't a guide for safe use of a product, consult this chart.”

That cuts both ways:

• Bought on the sell-by date? You still get the full window. Chicken bought on its sell-by date can be cooked the next day, as long as it went straight into a fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below.
• Bought days before the sell-by date? The date doesn't extend the window. Raw chicken with a sell-by date five days out should still be cooked or frozen within 1–2 days of purchase.

Freeze it if you won't cook it in time. FDA says food kept at 0°F (-18°C) stays safe indefinitely; the freezer times above are for quality. More on raw meat: chicken and ground beef.

Meat with only a sell-by date? Scan it when you unpack. FreshScan shows it as a sell-by date, and you can change it to the day you plan to cook or freeze it, so the reminder lands in time.

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Eggs and milk: the two sell-by dates you'll see most

Eggs

A sell-by or EXP date on an egg carton isn't federally required but may be required by the state where the eggs are sold. USDA says eggs keep 3–5 weeks in the fridge from the day you put them there, and that the sell-by date will usually pass during that time but “the eggs are perfectly safe to use.” FDA is more conservative on quality and says to use them within 3 weeks for best quality. Cartons with the USDA grade shield also show a three-digit pack date; see how to read egg carton dates and how long eggs last.

Milk

There's no single federal number for milk after its sell-by date. USDA's FoodKeeper lists fluid milk's fridge time as the package date rather than a count of days. How long it actually lasts depends on the type of milk, how cold your fridge is and how long it sat out. California also changed its milk-dating law in 2024: the date on market milk is now defined as the date by which it should normally be used for quality, rather than the date it's normally pulled from the shelf. See how long milk is good after the date.

California is phasing out “sell by”

Under California's AB 660, food manufactured on or after July 1, 2026 can't be sold in the state with the phrase “sell by” on it. Quality dates must read BEST if Used by and safety dates USE by. Stores can still use coded sell-by dates that consumers can't easily read. Eggs and infant formula are exempt.

You'll keep seeing sell-by dates for a while, for three reasons:

• The ban turns on when the food was made. Anything manufactured before July 1, 2026 can still be sold with its original label.
• Shelf-stable products can sit in warehouses and pantries for a long time, so old labels will linger.
• The law applies only in California. New York's legislature passed a similar bill in June 2026, but as of late September 2026 the state's bill record showed no signature by the governor.

The full rules are in California's date label law explained. For how sell by compares with every other phrase, see sell by vs use by vs best by.

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