Goomba38 wrote:
> Lobster Man wrote:
>
>> Not feeling well this week, and I got tired of tea and mineral water,
>> so I bought some bullion cubes at the store. A hot cup of beef bullion
>> is a nice change of pace.
>>
>> Anyway, when I opened the jar, I was struck by the "Best used by" date
>> on the top of the jar. (And the date was only a little over a year in
>> the future...) It's not like a cube of mostly salt can really "go
>> bad", right?
>>
>> I assume it's some stupid FDA food freshness requirement. But it still
>> struck me as ironic.
>
>
> It wasn't a "sell by" date, or a date legally required by the FDA. You
> said it yourself- "best used by" means just that. It provides the
> manufacturer some "control" over the quality of a product in the sense
> that if you keep it on hand for 10 years and then complain about the
> shriveled up cubes they can say you exceeded the "best used by" date.

I understand the purpose of a "best used by" date. But it's a freaking
bullion cube. It's what, 95% salt? How is that going to shrivel up?