Probably because the container is only able to keep moisture out for so long before the quality degrades. “Best by” means “we can’t guarantee quality after this date, but it probably won’t hurt you after that”, while “use by” means “if you consume this after this date, you might become ill, and there may be no indication that the food has gone bad”.
It’s because some states require expiry dates on all food items, and they didn’t think to create exemptions for things like this. I think only a couple of states require it without exemption, but no one wants two versions of their products, one with a date and one without, so they just put it on all items now, like the Prop 13 warnings.
Probably because the container is only able to keep moisture out for so long before the quality degrades. “Best by” means “we can’t guarantee quality after this date, but it probably won’t hurt you after that”, while “use by” means “if you consume this after this date, you might become ill, and there may be no indication that the food has gone bad”.
It’s because some states require expiry dates on all food items, and they didn’t think to create exemptions for things like this. I think only a couple of states require it without exemption, but no one wants two versions of their products, one with a date and one without, so they just put it on all items now, like the Prop 13 warnings.