Brian, you are the man. After seeing yesterday’s post regarding the confusing expiration codes found on some foods, Brian sent The Consumerist a handy cheat sheet explaining the various code. Ferrera Pan Candy Company, the maker of Red Hots, Lemonheads, Jawbreakers, and Boston Baked Beans, posts the production date, not the expiration date on the box. Even after we tell you how to decipher the date, it's up to you to figure out if you think the candy is worth buying. Expiration dates can be hard to locate on a product and even more challenging to decipher. Currently, the United States does not have a regulated or standard system for coding expiration dates on food, except for those on baby food and infant formula. All other dates and codes are added voluntarily by manufacturers. Look at the second set of numbers on the top line. This is a three-digit number. This number lists the day of the year the product was manufactured. For examples, 115 means the soda’s manufacturing date was the 115th day of the year. Read the last group of numbers at the end of the row. This group may be 1 or 2 numbers. Candy bars will either have a comprehensible “Best By” date or a numbered code on their package. Look at the candy bar first. If you see a date, such as “August 2010” or “10 Aug” then that’s the “Best By” date, not the date when it was produced.
scanrail/iStock/GettyImages
According to a recycling fact sheet on the San Jose State University website, we use more than 80 billion aluminum soda cans every year. This unprecedented amount of soda production requires manufacturers to carefully monitor the storage of their trademarked beverages. To give their customers the freshest carbonated drinks possible, soda companies print date codes on the individual cans. There is no federal mandate for placing date codes or expiration dates on cans, but companies recommend drinking the sodas before the printed expiration date.
Food Expiration Date Codes
Turn the soda can upside down without excessively shaking the can. Look for two lines of text printed on the can. The top line will only be numbers. The bottom line will be a combination of letters and numbers.
![]()
Read the top line of the text. The first two numbers refers to the month. For example, if the numbers say 10, the product manufacturing month was October.
Expiration Date Code Decoder![]()
Look at the second set of numbers on the top line. This is a three-digit number. This number lists the day of the year the product was manufactured. For examples, 115 means the soda’s manufacturing date was the 115th day of the year.
How Long Do Oreos Last? Shelf Life, Storage, Expiration Date
Read the last group of numbers at the end of the row. This group may be 1 or 2 numbers. This number indicates the year of production. For example, a soda produced in 2012 reads 12.
Since McCormick's consumer products sold in grocery stores have had expiration dates on them since 2004, the calculator on the McCormick web site
Food Expiration Date Code DecoderDate Codes - Farner Bocken If you are trying to determine the age of a McCormick product purchased in a grocery store and it does not have an expiration date or a best by date, it was made prior to 2004 and should be discarded.Candy Expiration Date Decoder FreeFor the products we sell at Spice Place, you must use the method described below for McCormick food service products. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |