Expiration dates mean quality, not safety
The local grocery store where I earned minimum wage in my high school days closed down after I went off to college because it could no longer afford to compete with the Wal-Mart Supercenter in the next town. 
I suppose confining the sale of expired goods to a single grocery cart at the front of the store really limited our earning potential.
Likewise, confining my ideas on the safety of out-of-date food to simple assumptions really limited my family’s money-saving potential. In my naivety, I assumed that dates on food referred to how long they were safe to eat.
This is not true.
Most dates provided by manufacturers on packages of food are just an indication of when the quality of the item will start to decline and—in the majority of cases—foods will remain safe past the date given.
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This is why people are comfortable buying expired foods at discounted prices from online sellers in the UK and local groceries in Pennsylvania.
Many food safety authorities feel that pregnant women should be more careful than these buyers, though. Agencies in Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, each tell pregnant women to avoid food past their ‘use by’ dates protect themselves and their babies from harm.
I am certainly not the foremost authority on the diet of a pregnant woman. But in the words of my new favorite USDA FSIS fact sheet,
“‘Use-by’ dates usually refer to best quality and are not safety dates.”
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/admin/trackback/105496
Hi Casey,
I'm glad to see you writing about this issue, however, your interpretation of UDSA recommendations is a little confusing. USDA recommends using products by their "use by" date. They also have a chart advising consumers to use products within a couple days of sell by dates (I see you linked to the fact sheet).
This conservative advice is in the best interest of consumers. I would never advise a client to use product later than the USDA recommendations. There are too many risk factors involved - how was the product handled during transport, by the grocer, by the consumer? I agree with you that the dates are not a direct reflection of the safety of the product, but they are all the consumer has to go by.
I also wouldn't want to encourage anyone to eat food past its "use by" date. However, people should have the resources necessary to make informed decisions about what they eat--including the actual meaning of the terms and dates on food packages.
Thanks so much for commenting and giving me a chance to clarify.