Best before dates are a joke anyway. A good cheese is almost always going to reach its peak well past any best before date given by the manufacturer/seller and the chocolate you are talking about won't noticeably deteriorate (apart from a harmless white bloom) for years. Jams. preserves and tinned good will keep forever (fsvo) and dried goods will keep provided they have been stored properly.
Right now, right here we are enjoying a traditional, English Christmas cake that I made in 2007 and have wrapped in greaseproof paper, stored in an airtight tin and "fed" with brandy from time to time. Christmas cakes take at least a year to mature and wedding cakes, made in a similar way will keep for ages too. The tradition in England used to be that one layer of a multi-tiered wedding cake would be held back and served at the christening of the couple's first-born child which would perhaps be many years later.
There is a discussion going on in government in the UK on a proposal to ban "best before" dates (retaining only "use by" dates) because far too much good food is being thrown away.
My advice? Use your common sense, not the dates printed on labels and if food is fit for use, use it..
