What do they make baby oil out of?

If nothing else, it gets eaten as dip sooner rather than later.

I always look at that before I buy it.

One customer complained because the blue cheese was moldy. She said she was going to contact the health department and get us shut down. about 3 months later someone from the health department showed up and said "We have to check out every complaint." I showed her the blue cheese.
The End.

just different bacteria or whatever.

The farther out that date is, the longer you can generally use it past it - they are very cautious in assigning expiration dates. But sour cream - eventually the mold will catch up with it.

He posed that same question back in the 70s.
The payoff line was "don't eat that honey, it went good".

You are so right, it makes no sense. But here is some kind of explanation. (The truth is out there?) Sour cream results from a friendly lactic acid bacterium fermenting milk. Those are the same type of bacteria found in probiotic capsules that are supposed to promote gut health. As long as the happy sour cream-lactic acid bacterium partnership continues, sour cream should last for some time. But when unfriendly bacteria or mold contaminate sour cream, then the taste can deteriorate and the tainted sour cream can become unhealthy to eat. (Unfriendly bacteria can overwhelm the friendly gut bacteria, as we all know.) I have discovered sad sour cream with a strange pink tint at the back of the fridge. The pink tint is due to contamination. So don't leave the lid off the sour cream as that increases the chance for bad microbes to ruin the sour cream. Don't eat weirdly tinted or stinky sour cream because that indicates contamination; unfriendly microbes could hijack your guts. And don't be like me, allowing your sour cream migrate to the nether regions of the fridge. But if sour cream remained uncontaminated, it should last long enough to embellish your baked potatoes and chips. 😋

I rely on my nose to tell me if things are spoiled.

If milk smells the least bit funny I throw it out.

P.S. The gravy was delicious.

Both are made by literally letting them rot in a container for a while!

(But, I love them both!)