Microsoft Date & Time Picker Control - Linked Cell Query - Can anyone help?

Hi All, I created a standard DatePicker control on a worksheet and used the “linked cell” attribute in properties to link the output to a specific cell.
This works well but my problem is that the value returned to the cell is a “string” value and I need it to be a numeric date value.
To explain what I am trying to do; with the DatePicker I pick a date and place the value in a cell with a label above it called “Expiry Date”. I want to compare the value in the linked cell to another cell that contains the “=TODAY()” value. If the value of the “Expiry Date” is bigger than the value of “=TODAY()” then do nothing but if the value is less than “=TODAY()” then pop up a message informing the user that the Items’ Expiry Date has been reached.
Back to my problem, the DatePicker returns a string value that I cannot numerically compare with the “=TODAY()” value. – How can I solve this, any help will be appreciated.
(PS. I can be low tech and just ask them to type in a date but what's the fun in that :-))

Attached is a screen snippet of the worksheet:
ExcelCapture001.PNG

In your date comparison formula, you could use the DATEVALUE function to convert the string date to a serial date.

Example:

A1 has =TODAY()
B1 has your text date

=IF(A1<DATEVALUE(B1), "","Expired")

A formula like this could be use with the Data Validation feature.

AlphaFrog you're a star, thanks a lot, works bril :-)
As simple as that and I've been bashing my head over this for a couple of days :-)