Does food actually go bad on expiration dates?

Not usually. if it's a "sell by" date, it just means the store has to sell it by that date. Most food is good for a few days past the expiration date. But, if it's something highly perishable I wouldn't try to eat it.

Of course it's just an estimation, and one that errs way on the side of caution.

Food that spoils will generally be OK for a while after the expiration date. In the days before expiration dates, people used their own judgement (sight and smell) to determine whether food was fine to eat or not.

And non-perishable food (dried/tinned food) will stay safe to eat indefinitely - it might not be too tasty five or ten years after the expiration date, but it's never going to kill you to try it. (In the case of tinned food, though, watch out for tins that are rusty or dented in any way. The contents may not be intact.)

The biggest laugh was seeing expiration dates on jars of honey. Honey is one of the least perishable foods in existence, jars of it have been found in Egyptian tombs that were still edible.

Its just an estimation. But, I would gladly dump 20 dollars of food into the dumpster then spend 24 hours+ praying to the porcelain god.

Like someone said, most of the time it's the sell by date. I usually do not keep something more than two days beyond that date.

No it doesn't actually go bad right on the date it can last another week. The inspiration date is just so that you can know when it will be near inspiration. But it would still be o.k to eat.

depends on the food. perishable foods, [refrigerated] yes. they also have their own life after opened, depending on the food. dont make the mistake of thinking that a bag of ham in your fridge says it expires in 4 months so its good. i think it stays good for like 2 weeks max once opened.

as for shelf foods with preservatives, they ususally dont even go bad but get stale. i wouldnt eat anything past the exp date, ive gotten sick from accidently eating cereal bars a year past the date. i wouldnt eat anything canned past the date.

No it doesn't. They play safe by giving an earlyish date (so they won't get sued)

Nearly always if you chill it in the fridge its fine a day over the expiration date (just make sure to heat it thoroughly to 80 degrees)

No, but it starts to lose it's nutritional value and the preservative level drops off. it is best consumed within a short time of the use by/sell by date.

the real expiration is probably a week after the one stated since they want to safeguard against people that use the stuff after the expiration date.

No, it is just a sell by date.