as simple as being acceptable

[deepcosmos]

"The expiration date represents the food scientist’s best guess on how long a food will last before it spoils. A food scientist calculates the expiration date by first determining the product’s shelf life (how long it will last under typical storage). The expiration date is usually set before the end of shelf life, but it is not as simple as being acceptable to eat the day before the expiration date and unacceptable the day after the date."

About the underlined part above,

1. Does 'it' means 'The expiration date'?
2. Is the 'as' is functioning as a preposition such as 'like'?
3. If I parse the simple sentence - "it is acceptable to eat the day before . . . after the date" has been reduced into the simple phrase - "(it) being acceptable to eat the day before . . . after the date", is this parse justified and then how the "it is" could be done into "(it) being" as a participle phase?

I would appreciate on your explanation.

* source; Introducing Food Science

 

[Glasguensis]

1. No, it’s a dummy subject. The issue/question is not as simple as that
2. No.
3. No.

 

[PaulQ]

The expiration date is usually set before the end of shelf life, but it (= the concept of an expiration date ) is not as simple as {(i) [The food in question] being acceptable to eat the day before the expiration date and (ii) [The food in question being] unacceptable [to eat on] the day after the date.}"

 

[deepcosmos]

1. No, it’s a dummy subject. The issue/question is not as simple as that
2. No.
3. No.

Hi, Glasguensis, if the original sentence is grammatically correct, would you kindly paraphrase the same?

 

[deepcosmos]

The expiration date is usually set before the end of shelf life, but it (= the concept of an expiration date ) is not as simple as {(i) [The food in question] being acceptable to eat the day before the expiration date and (ii) [The food in question being] unacceptable [to eat on] the day after the date.}"

Hi, PaulQ, is the 'being acceptable' above a gerund or a participle?

 

[PaulQ]

I would see it as a participle.

 

[Glasguensis]

Hi, Glasguensis, if the original sentence is grammatically correct, would you kindly paraphrase the same?

Having an expiration date doesn’t mean that the food is perfectly good the day before this date and spoiled the day after.