Maten ska inte ätas efter sista förbrukningsdagen.

Mat means food in a general sense. Maten is the definite form, meaning the food.

In this sentence, Swedish is talking about the specific food item being referred to, such as the food in the package. That is why maten is natural here.

Not only future. Ska can sometimes refer to the future, but here it mainly expresses an instruction or rule.

So ska inte ätas means something like:

• should not be eaten
• is not to be eaten

On packaging and in official instructions, ska often has this rule-like meaning.

Because ska is a modal verb, and after modal verbs in Swedish you normally use the infinitive without att.

Common examples:

• ska äta
• kan komma
• måste gå
• vill läsa

So ska inte ätas is correct, not ska inte att ätas.

In a main clause, the finite verb usually comes early in the sentence, and inte normally comes after that finite verb.

Here, the finite verb is ska, so the order is:

• Maten = subject
• ska = finite verb
• inte = negation
• ätas = infinitive passive verb

That is why you get Maten ska inte ätas.

The -s makes the verb passive.

• äta = to eat
• ätas = to be eaten

So:

• Maten ska inte ätas = The food should not be eaten

This -s passive is very common in Swedish, especially in formal writing, instructions, and labels.

No. That would mean The food should not eat, which does not make sense.

If the food is the thing receiving the action, Swedish needs the passive:

• Maten ska inte ätas

If you want an active version, you need a different subject, for example:

• Man ska inte äta maten efter sista förbrukningsdagen.

That means One should not eat the food after the use-by date.

Efter means after.

Here it introduces the time expression:

• efter sista förbrukningsdagen = after the use-by date

Swedish prepositions are simpler than English learners sometimes expect: you do not need to change the noun after efter in any special way.

With words like första and sista, Swedish often leaves out den/det/de, especially in fixed expressions and formal wording.

So phrases like these are normal:

• första gången
• sista dagen
• sista kapitlet

That is why sista förbrukningsdagen sounds natural here.

Because Swedish often keeps the noun in the definite form in expressions like this.

The base word is förbrukningsdag.
The -en ending makes it definite:

• förbrukningsdag = use-by day/date
• förbrukningsdagen = the use-by day/date

With many adjectives, Swedish uses both an article and a definite noun, for example:

• den röda bilen

But with sista and similar words, the article is often omitted while the noun still stays definite:

• sista dagen
• sista förbrukningsdagen

Sista is the normal attributive form used before a noun in this kind of phrase.

So you say:

• sista dagen
• sista veckan
• sista kapitlet

You do not use sist here, because sist is usually an adverb or predicate form, as in Han kom sist.

It is a compound word, which is very common in Swedish.

It can be broken down like this:

• förbrukning = consumption / use-up
• dag = day
• -en = the definite ending

So literally it is something like the consumption day, but in real usage it means the use-by date/day.

Swedish often forms long noun compounds like this, especially in formal and technical language.

No, not quite.

• sista förbrukningsdag is like use-by and is connected to safety
• bäst före is like best before and is more about quality

So this warning sentence is especially appropriate with sista förbrukningsdag, because it tells you the food should not be eaten after that date.