The expiry date codes on most food is a joke too though I think here, the manufacturers do this also, beyond regulations, so they don't have to guarantee the stuff after that date and because uninformed consumers (sadly the majority) will toss perfectly good food simply because of the expiry date. There's even a best buy date on dry pasta. Keep it dry and keep the bugs away and it'll keep damn near forever. Most things these days have a "best by.." date, not a "use by". Even eggs nowadays are saying "best by". They'll easily keep a month or two in a fridge, maybe longer.
Honey (real stuff) will keep basically forever. If it crystalizes, you just need to heat it up and stir and its good as new. It won't evolve life because there's not enough water in it and it also contains a peroxide (from the bees, not added).
For the most part, food expiry date codes are stock rotation dates. In a lot of cases, stores will toss stuff beyond that date simply because consumers, seeing the old dates, won't buy it and the stores have new stock to put out. The amount of food tossed by stores is a real crime and yes, they usually toss perfectly good stuff into the dumpster rather than donating it to rescue missions, homeless shelters,... who really need it and would gladly take it. Its really sad.
Chemicals, unless they're organic, usually don't go bad and a lot of the organic chemicals won't either - depends on what they are.
