Food Expiration Date Labels Trick People into Wasting Food, Money, and Natural Resources New NRDC report dissects the problems with "best before" labels Words such as convoluted, confusing, inconsistent, ineffective, disorienting, ambiguous and dizzying are not terms you want to hear associated with a system you believe is designed to guarantee food safety.

http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/expiration_date_labels_trick_people_into_waste/