11 Foods With Expiration Dates That You Can Ignore

If you're like most of us, you have a few boxes of pasta or cans of corn lingering in the back of your pantry, stamped with dates that have long since passed. Turns out you may still be able to use a lot of these items, since food expiration dates or best by dates are actually not a hard-and-fast rule.

In fact, federal law doesn't even require expiration dates on food (except baby formula), according to the USDA, and up to 30% of the food supply is wasted due to people throwing away food that has passed its expiration date but is actually still safe to eat. The key is knowing which foods are your best bet, how to tell whether they are still good, and how to store these items to preserve them long after their expiration dates have passed.