Expiration Dates

Thing #2 was born in March 2009, and I just discovered tonight that the diaper cream we use for him expired in May 2009.  It is a big tub that we bought when Thing #1 was a little over a year old.  In any case, considering that we have been using it for this long past the expiration date, it made me think two distinct thoughts.  First, I was horrified that I didn't notice earlier and immediately thought about the danger I was putting him in.  Then, I quickly followed that up by considering that expiration dates don't really matter on certain things, and perhaps they put such a date on hoping that we would chuck it out and buy a whole new one.  I still don't know which thought is correct, but so far, I am leaning towards the second one.