We're the team behind Otto!, and 'is this still okay?' is the question behind most searches like this one. Here is the honest answer about any food expiration date checker: no tool can tell you a specific food is safe from its date alone. What you can do is read the label correctly, look up how long that type of food normally keeps, and keep track of when you opened or cooked it. This guide covers all three, in that order.
The main thing to know in the US is that most date labels aren't about safety. Federal law doesn't require date labeling on most foods, and the main exception is infant formula. On everything else the date is the manufacturer's estimate of when quality starts to drop, which is why a carton of yogurt can taste fine a few days after the date and a bag of salad can be unpleasant before it.
Pick a food name and where it's stored, and Otto! suggests the expiration date. Everything sits in one list sorted by what expires first, with one reminder each morning.
Learn more about Otto!What the date on the package actually means
The wording changes from brand to brand, and that's the confusing part. The USDA groups the common phrases like this:
| Label | What it refers to | If you pass it |
|---|---|---|
| Best if used by / best before | Peak flavor and quality | Food is usually still safe if it was stored properly. It may taste or feel worse |
| Use by | The last date recommended for peak quality, set by the maker | Not a safety date on most foods, but treat perishable foods past it with caution. Infant formula is the exception: do not use it past the date |
| Sell by | A date for the store to rotate stock | Not meant for you. Buy before it and you still have time to use the food at home |
| Freeze by | When to freeze the food to keep its best quality | Freeze it before the date and the clock mostly stops |
Eggs are a special case. Cartons graded by the USDA carry a three-digit pack date (001 is January 1, 365 is December 31), and many also show a sell-by or expiration date. Eggs in the shell usually keep 3–5 weeks in the fridge, counting from when you bought them. Our storage-times table has that figure and the others below.
When there's no date, or you've already opened it
A lot of what we eat has no printed date: fresh produce, meat from the butcher counter, leftovers, anything you cooked yourself. And once a package is open, the date on it no longer tells you much. For these, you need a typical storage time instead. The USDA FoodKeeper data is the standard source in the US, and these are some of the figures from it:
| Food | In the fridge (40 °F / 4 °C or colder) |
|---|---|
| Raw ground beef, pork or poultry | 1–2 days |
| Beef steaks, chops and roasts | 3–5 days |
| Fish | 1–2 days |
| Eggs in the shell | 3–5 weeks |
| Cooked leftovers | 3–4 days |
| Hard-boiled eggs | 1 week |
| Opened mayonnaise | 2 months |
| Opened pasta sauce (jar) | 4 days |
These are guidelines from US agencies, and other countries use their own rules and labels. When a package prints a date, follow it first. For everything else, the full table of 100 foods, with fridge, freezer and pantry times before and after opening, is here: how long does food last, storage times from the USDA. You can filter it by food name.
A quick way to check before you eat
When you're standing at the fridge with something you're unsure about, three questions settle most cases. Is there a date, and which kind is it? A use-by on raw chicken deserves more respect than a best-by on a jar of mustard. Has it been kept cold the whole time? A date only means anything if the food was stored the way the package says. Is it a high-risk food? Deli meat, ground meat, cooked rice and anything with dairy or eggs can carry bacteria that you can't see or smell, so for these, the time in the fridge matters more than how it looks. When you're unsure how long something has been sitting, we'd throw it out.
Keeping the dates where you can see them
The checking is easy once. The hard part is remembering: you open a tub of cottage cheese on Tuesday, and by the weekend you've forgotten which of the three tubs is the old one. This is the reason we built Otto!. You type a food name and choose where it's stored (Fridge, Freezer or Pantry), and Otto! suggests an expiration date from its built-in data. If the package prints a date, you adjust the suggestion to match it.
Everything you add lands in one list sorted by how soon it expires. Expired items show in red and anything due within 3 days in orange, so what to use first is clear at a glance. Once a day in the morning, you get a single notification that rounds up what expires today or soon. For the things you buy every week, Otto! remembers the category, place and shelf life, so you only pick the name.
To be clear about the limits: Otto! doesn't read dates from a photo and has no barcode scanner. It never uses your camera. You enter the food, the place and (if you want) the printed date yourself, and the suggested date is a planning estimate, not a safety guarantee. Using it on your own is free and unlimited, with no account needed.
Otto!
Pick a food name and where it's stored, and the expiration date is suggested. A list sorted by expiry, one reminder each morning, and a shopping list you can share with your family. Free and unlimited on your own. For iPhone and Android.
Learn more about Otto!Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to eat food after the expiration date?
It depends on the food and the label. Most best-by and sell-by dates are about quality, so properly stored food is often still safe after them, though it may taste worse. High-risk foods such as deli meat, ground meat and cooked rice are different. For those, go by the time they've been in the fridge, and don't eat infant formula after its use-by date. If you're unsure, throw it out.
What is the difference between best by, use by and sell by?
Best by or best before is about peak quality. Use by is the last date the maker recommends for peak quality. Sell by tells the store how long to display the product, and you can still use the food at home after it. Apart from infant formula, none of these is a federal safety date.
Can Otto! read the expiration date from a photo?
No. Otto! doesn't use your camera or have a barcode scanner. You type the food name and choose where it's stored, and it suggests an expiration date. You can change that date to match the one printed on the package.
Where do the storage times in your table come from?
From the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service FoodKeeper data, which is public. The fridge and freezer temperatures come from the FDA. Other countries have their own guidance and labels, so follow the date on your package first.
Stop guessing what is still good: start with Otto! Fridge, freezer and pantry in one list with expiration dates, sorted by what to use first. Free on your own, for iPhone and Android.