Enter your product's manufacture date (or shelf life start date) and its shelf life duration in years, months, and/or days to find the exact expiration date. You also get the days remaining before expiry and a percentage of shelf life used — so you can see at a glance whether a product is still good to use.
Expiration Date
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Days Remaining
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Shelf Life Used
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Shelf Life Remaining
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Status
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To find the expiration date, add the product's shelf life duration to its manufacture or shelf life start date. For example, if a product was made on January 1, 2023 and has a shelf life of 2 years, it expires on January 1, 2025. This calculator does that math for you automatically.
No — sell-by, best-before, and expiration dates are different things. A sell-by date tells retailers how long to display a product for sale. Best-before indicates peak quality. An expiration date is the last date a product is considered safe or effective to use. Products may still be usable after their sell-by or best-before date, but not after a true expiration date.
Shelf life is usually printed on the product label as an expiration date, best-before date, or as a period-after-opening (PAO) symbol on cosmetics. For products without a printed date, manufacturer guidelines or regulatory standards for that product category are your best reference.
Eggs often have a sell-by or best-before date rather than a strict expiration date, and they may remain safe to eat for 3–5 weeks after purchase if stored properly in the refrigerator. You can do a float test: place the egg in water — fresh eggs sink, while spoiled eggs float due to gas buildup inside.
A best-before date of 36 months means the product is expected to be at its best quality for 3 years from its production date. For example, a product manufactured on March 1, 2022 with a 36-month shelf life would have a best-before date of March 1, 2025.
Cosmetics in the U.S. are not always required to carry an expiration date, but many use a period-after-opening (PAO) symbol — a small open jar icon with a number followed by 'M' (e.g., 12M means 12 months after opening). Cosmetics can degrade due to preservative breakdown, bacteria exposure, or moisture, so following these guidelines is important for safety.
Shelf life is the total duration a product is expected to remain usable — measured from manufacture to expiry. The expiration date is the specific calendar date when that shelf life period ends. They represent the same concept but from different perspectives: duration vs. a fixed point in time.
Yes — this calculator works for food, cosmetics, medications, industrial materials, and any product with a defined shelf life. Simply enter the start date and the shelf life in years, months, and/or days, and it will calculate the expiration date and remaining shelf life for you.