Over twenty years ago, we went to our little local convenience store (town is about 1/2 hour away), to get a gallon of milk. We found the expiration date of the milk was the day before. The owner, when confronted by the news, said that she knew that and the milk is still good for two weeks after the date. We could see that the milk was curdling in the container, told her so, and she reiterated that it was still good. Needless to say, we drove the 1/2 hour to town.
Whatever she felt the life of the milk might be, legally a store or restaurant for that matter cannot sell or use a product that has passed its sell by/use by date. What’s also interesting is all the people who throw out perfectly good medicine because it has reached it’s use by date, the fact is that most medicine is still effective for 7 years after that date if I recall the study correctly. It is to expensive for pharma companies to keep samples and retest for extended studies.
Whatever she felt the life of the milk might be, legally a store or restaurant for that matter cannot sell or use a product that has passed its sell by/use by date. What’s also interesting is all the people who throw out perfectly good medicine because it has reached it’s use by date, the fact is that most medicine is still effective for 7 years after that date if I recall the study correctly. It is to expensive for pharma companies to keep samples and retest for extended studies.
There are at least two things to avoid buying after the use by dates; bagged produce and liquid dairy products. If milk doesn’t have at least a week left on the use by date, I won’t buy it. Bagged produce must have at least three additional days. Bread it kind of iffy, unless you are making something that works better with bread a bit dried out, like French toast.
Most other items are just fine for quite a while.
Viability of milk of course depends on how it is cared for throughout the process. I was in a large grocery store in a city one hot summer day and saw milk stacked up in the aisle waiting to be put away, no employee was nearby- so surely not putting it in the cooler ASAP. I have never bought milk there again, that milk might not make it even to it’s expiration date. I have never seen milk good for 2 weeks past the date no matter how it is handled, it is a matter of two or three days most of the time.