I just came across an interesting piece from the CBC entitled “Is my food still safe after the ‘best before’ date?” It is filed under Food Safety: Recession Tips, and was published several days ago. The fact is that those of us who wander the aisles of the mega-mart rarely stop to consider that there are actually three types of date codes, stamped, stickered, or written (sometimes scribbled unintelligibly) on food packaging: Best Before dates, Packaged-on dates, and Expiry Dates.
According to the CBC piece, “Best before” dates are mandatory on packaged goods with a shelf life of 90 days or less. “Packaged-on” dates are mandatory on meat and co-ordinate with a chart that is displayed at meat counters. This chart is meant to help consumers determine how long meat is safe to consume from the date it is packaged. Me, I’ve seen that chart, but I never thought that it applied to my purchase. “Expiry dates” are mandatory on “fortified” foods and medication. The nutrients in fortified foods and active substances in medication (particularly prescription drugs) degrade over time. Some can become dangerous to consume after their expiry date.
Further, best before dates are voluntary on packaged goods with shelf lives longer than 90 days. While it is legal to sell products in Canada past their best before dates, it is not legal to sell products after their expiration dates. Retailers are also not permitted to tamper with best before dates.
CBC offers the following general “rules of thumb” for handling dairy and meat, presumably with guidance from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada (HC). So long as it does not develop an off colour or odour, refrigerated cheese can be salvaged by cutting away “2.5 cm around any mold.” Raw beef or pork can sit in the fridge 3-5 days after purchase. Chicken should be cooked a day or 2 after purchase. Frozen pork can last 4-6 months. Frozen beef, 6-12 months and frozen chicken, a year. Ground meat, on the other hand, should be cooked on the day of purchase. Immediately frozen, it can last 3-4 months.
What about foods away from the meat or dairy cases? According to a similar CTV piece, with guidance from a food scientist from the University of Guelph, opened bottles of ketchup can last months, so long as they do not sit out at room temperature for any prolonged lengths of time. Similarly, pickles and relish can last 2 months. Foods packed in oil can last a year, so long as the contents stay submerged. Unopened glass jars of jam can be stored for 12 to 18 months, so long as they are kept away from light. Canned foods, have varying shelf lives depending on their contents. Properly stored, high acid canned foods can last up to 18 months. Low-acid canned foods vegetables can last between 2 and 5 years. Please note that dented or dinged cans can result in broken seams, which can lead to bacterial contamination, making the contents inedible.
This said, have you ever tried to decipher “Packaged on” or “Produced on” dates on packaging, particularly on voluntarily marked foods? Some are explicit dates. Others, random strings of numbers and letters. Some manufacturers emboss or etch lids with barely legible codes. Others, print them. Such is not surprising considering that food producers have reportedly been less than forthcoming, regarding information on food packaging, especially when it comes to nutrition.
Happily, websites like the Consumerist have taken the time to publish guides for making sense of “Packaged on” or “Expiration” codes. The following are two cheat sheets from a recent set of guides:
Date Codes
Source: Consumerist.com
Source: Consumerist.com
What really surprised me is that multi-digit codes can involve Julian dates. Our traditional calendar system is Gregorian. Wikipedia.net has long and involved entries on the historical significance and emergence of both systems. For our purposes, we need only tables that map the Gregorian calendar days to Julian ones. For a regular year’s Julian dates, click here for a table from the Colorado State University. For a leap year, click here.
Let’s put the Consumerist’s guides to task on a selection of Ottawa purchased grocery:
Can of Delmote Creamed Corn
Top with unintelligible imprinted date code.
7363B translates to YDDD (DDD being a Julian date). According to the guide and the non-leap year table, the date code means December 29, 2007 and the can’s best before date is 2 years from that date. I guess this explains why Delmonte canned goods, with a year’s remaining shelf life, were on sale in January 2009.
Bottle of Ragu Sauce
No Date Codes on Label
According to the explicit date, the best before date is either May 7, 2009 or March 7, 2009. Cars 2 fast as lightning. 71107PL is not decipherable by the cheat sheets. I guess American bottles of Ragu Sauce have different date codes and not dates.
Pair of Mars Bars
Hostess Expiration Codes
No Date Codes on Front or Side of Wrapper
818CA95 translates to YW____ (W being a standard week number). According to the guide and the ISO standard for week numbers, the date code means Week of May 1, 2008 and the candy bar has a 40 week shelf life from that date. As such, the best before date is the week of February 23, 2009 (18 + 40 – 52). I guess I purchased a soon to be expired Mars Bar.
846DA01 also translates similarly. Accordingly, the date code means Week of November 10, 2008. Its best before date is the week of August 17, 2009 (46 + 40 – 52). Don’t worry, this particular Mars Bar is residing in my fridge. It won’t last the week.
Anyone else slightly perturbed by how involved it is to decipher best before dates of food? It feels like you’re writing a math contest…
Expiration Code Cheat Sheet
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