Can a store that sells items that are expired be sued?

This is just a question, I am not implying that I will be suing a store for such a predicament or suggesting someone should. Rather curious to know what would happen if this were to come about.

The reason I ask is because a couple of days ago I bought pack of peanut butter cookies.To be truthful I don’t check dates as much I should when I do buy things, but for whatever reasoned I noticed the date on the package and they were around 3 months old.

I figured not a huge problem I just threw them away.

Lets just say someone bought something, consumed it and became ill. Missed work,had damage to the body of some sort,maybe even deadly or something.

Is it the person who owns the store or management responsible for properly rotating dates on items that can expire or should it be the consumer’s fault for not checking the date? Assuming that there is a date and it is legible.

Last note, correct if I am wrong some food items do not have dates but codes. If this is true how would the consumer know the date it expires?

Who is liable?
Is there law(s) in place already?
What is your opinion, regardless of what the law says on this?