Best Use By vs Expiration?

some things spoil faster then others, like milk, experation on milk, means, throw it out, its no longer good to drink.
best use by, like in packaged cookies, means it will remain fresh tasting until that date, after the date, its not spoiled, but just isn't as fresh any longer

I'd say if I saw this, the FDA has the wool pulled over their eyes, but what I would take it to mean is best used date means this is as long as it might be considered fresh or at least decent tasting, and goes downhill from there. Expiration date means it should be history, though I just ate a yogurt that said still good up to 7 days after the date stamped. Of course, how do you know if yogurt is bad, considering it's based on spoiled milk to start.

cream cheese

best use by is just as it says its best to use by ... after that date the product starts breaking down and then goes to the exp date .... sometime with supermarkets they dont catch everything and you should point that out to them (that is if its expired) they can still sell something thats past the best use by date . if its something not like meat or dairy and its past the best use by date no worries you can even ask the manager to discount it for you.. chances are they will because they would be putting it on sale anyways just to try to get rid of it before it expires!