Pantry Assistant

Pantry dates

Last checked

You never have to type a date. This is part of how the pantry tracker stays current. When the app doesn't know one, it estimates it from USDA storage guidance, on the cautious side. A date from the package or from you replaces the estimate.

How dates read

On the Pantry, each food says how long it has: "Use in 3 days", "2 weeks left", or "Past its date, check it first". Foods with a use-by date read "Use within 3 days" and, once it passes, "Past use-by".

Open a food to see its date:

  • Use by is for foods where the date matters for health, like raw meat, fish, deli meats and soft cheeses. Past it, the app says: "Past use-by. When in doubt, throw it out."
  • Best before is for most other foods. Past it, the app says: "Past its date, check it first."
  • about means the date is an estimate. Under it, the app says where the date came from: Our estimate, From the package or You checked it.

The app picks use by or best before from the food, so you never choose. Estimates are a guide: check food before you eat it.

Use first

At the top of the Pantry, Use first lists foods whose date is within 3 days or past, sorted by what turns soonest. Each card offers Cook it and Toss, plus Freeze when the food isn't in the freezer already and keeps there. Once a food is past its date, the card offers only Toss. Dinner picks on Tonight also favor food that needs using.

Change a date

Owners and Editors can change dates.

  1. Open the food on the Pantry and tap its date, or Date.
  2. Pick a quick choice, like +1 week, or type the date on the package (like 2026-11-01).
  3. Tap Save date.

When you put away shopping, you can also switch a food from Our estimate to Date on package. See Put Away.

Move food to another spot

Tap Move on a food and pick where it's going. Each spot shows how long the food keeps there, and the app marks the best one. Moving food into the freezer gives it a new, longer date. More on the freezer list. If you typed the date yourself, your date stays and the app suggests the longer one. You can add your own spots, like a garage freezer, in Settings under Storage.

How much is left

Each food is have, low or out. On the Pantry, tap Used as you use it up: the first tap makes it Running low, the next makes it All gone. Or open the food and choose Plenty, Running low or All gone.

Foods you count, like eggs or cans, work by number instead. The button on the Pantry reads 1 and takes one away, and the food's page has a count to raise or lower. Foods that run out come up in the daily Check-in, where you choose whether they go on the list.

Dates from scans

A Shelf Scan uses a date it can read on a package. A Receipt Scan uses the day you shopped, so estimates count from then.

More on this: How to organize your freezer, with a printable inventory sheet.