I had heard about the pancake/waffle mix issue before, and I notice that the mix I use, from Williams-Sonoma, does have an expiration date. I check the dates on everything I buy, canned goods, dry goods, and sodas, and like a lot of others, I rummage thru the dairy case to get the most far out date available. I did work as a volunteer at a food bank, where we were told that we could repackage canned goods and items like salad dressings for a year after their expiry date and that would be fine from a food safety perspective (assuming, of course, that the items weren't opened or damaged). So I think for many of those types of items, it is definitely a "best before", not a use by...but I always get rid of them anyway, and wouldn't buy them. Meat and chicken I'm even more on top of, and in any event, it has to be used or cooked within three to four days of getting home...