DISCLAMER: THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS GATHERED BY THE GENTELMAN AT gerryl@rt66.com THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IS TO BE USED ONLY AS A GUIDELINE AND NOT AN ABSOLUTE. ANY FOOD ITEM THAT LOOKS BAD, SMELLS BAD, OR FOR ANY OTHER REASON APEARS TO BE "NOT EATABLE" SHPULD BE DISCARDED.

From: gerryl

Subject: [aY2K] help with expiration dates

Subject: [Y2K] Meals/Can Food Date Codes

Lipton Iced Tea Mix- It says 8B21SO on the bottom that means 8 is the year

1998 and the 2 is the month that it was made. It lasts for 2 years opened or unopened.

Country Time Lemonade drink mix- I says 81943 on the bottom. That means 8

is the year (1998) and 194 is the 194th day of the year. It last 2 years unopened and 2 months opened.

Nestle's Quik Chocolate- If it says 8063 on the bottom of the can that

means 8is 1998, and 63 is the 63rd day of the year. It lasts 2 years unopened and 3-6 months opened.

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Food Companies; Date Codes:

AlpineAire Foods, ( Freeze Dry) Nevada City, CA phone: 916-272-1971,

http://www.alpineairefoods.com/, for date imprinted on edge of package is the made date example: FEB 20 97, add 2 to 4years from that date, meat or brown rice (because of oil) would be 2 years other non-meat or oily products would be 4 years, white rice last 5-10 years.

Bear Creek Soups/Chili (801-654-2669) dry Soups/Chili in can 3 years,

unopen in cool/dry place, after opening 5 months.

Bush Brothers & Co. (Beans) Knoxville, TN phone: 423-588-7685 / Beans

(good for 36 months)- when canned 5 digit code on bottom 61071 is broken down: 6 (month June) 10 (10th day) 7 (year 97) 1 omit, same code as

Chilli, store 1.5 to 2 years max.

Contadina Spaghetti Sauce (Nestles Co.) (800-288-8682) in 6 lbs can,

date code: 7268AC9G16C:52, use only first 4 numbers (7268) first # 7= Year / 268= day of the year, canned good unopen for 365 days.

Del Monte Foods, San Francisco, CA phone: 800-543-3090 / 415-247-3000

http://www.delmonte-international.com/ code: 6270V, 6 (year 96) 270 (day of year) canned, storage 2.5 years from date code.

Green Giant Foods, solution@greengiant.com, date codes: 252N2, first 3

numbers are the day (sept. 8th, the "N" stands for the plant, last number is the year 1992, or the code could start w/a letter A-L stands for the month that the product was produced "A" for January, "B" for February etc. the next numbers are the day, the last digit is the year. Canned vegetable products 2 years w/exception of: Corn/Peas = 3 years, Mushrooms = 4 years.

General Mills, phone: 1-800-328-6787 Minneapolis, MN Flour: 25lbs bag

#20NOV7L 15:40 Date code example from GM: B723W1 first letter "B" = July, 7=1997, 23=day of month. (W1=Production code no value) GM year

(June-May) starts w/the letter "A" is June, "B"=July, "C"=Aug, etc. (no

letter "I") All purpose flour shelf life of 15 months in pantry, All Wheat flour: shelf life of 6 months, if kept in refrig: or cool place

shelf life increases.

Hanover Foods Corp. 717-632-6000, the 5 digit code on bottom 76294

isbroken down: omit 7, 6 is the year (96) 294 is the day of the year when canned Oct 20th

Hershey's Chocolate, phone: 1-800-468-1714, data code on items a typical

string of 6 numbers & letters (75B1BP) but the buy before code is usually underneath or at the end of the string eg. 8H were as the first digit is the Year 8 ('98) the letter H (Aug) is the month 8th letter in the alphabet.

Hormel Foods, phone: later, Dinty Moore Beef Stew good for 5+ years, after

5 yrs. they start to lose nutritional valve but still ok to eat. code date: 1- letter, 5 numbers, letter is the plant , first two numbers month of production, second two numbers day, last number is year.

Mountain House (Oregon Freeze Dry, Inc.) Albany, OR phone: 800-547-4109

numbers along side package is the date code for example 96166 = 96 year, 166 day of the year. Good 3 to 5 years after date.

Stagg Foods Hillsboro, OR phone: 503-693-1999

Star Kist Tuna, 800-252-1587 date code is two lines of numbers, bottom set

example: X177F use only bottom set letter ignore letter on left "X", on right "F" is Year 1997 / 177 is day of the year canned good for 4-6 years "G" letter is for year 1998, "H" is for 1999, etc.

Tang Orange Drink, 800-431-1002 data code when made two lines of numbers,

bottom set 8040H first number 8 is year '98, next 3 numbers 040 is the day of year, storage life 18 to 24 months unopen, once open 2 months (best after open to place in refrigerator) 8 oz=100% vitamin C.

The best place of info on food storage & life span is from University of Utah

http://ext.usu.edu/publica/foodpubs.htm you will need a Adobe Acrobat Reader if you want to read off-line or keep for reference if you don'thave one

its free just go to Adobe home page http://www.adobe.com & download the

reader after its install make a dir. or new folder under the dir. Reader called "data" or anything you want now instead of reading the .pdf files

on-line you can download (DL) the ones you want into that dir. its a great

site make sure you download (DL) at least two files foodsaf0.pdf its on question & answers on food saftey for example "can I eat can food thats 10

years out of date?" the answer is yes as long as the cans are not bulging

or spit out as you open the can.

The other is fn502.pdf gives shelf life of foods very good info, and lots

of other files take a look, like making bread the right way.

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I just received info from Dial Corp. concerning the shelf life of the

"Armour Star" canned meat products (Vienna Sausage, Stew, Chili, Deviled Ham, Potted Meat, Soup, etc.) I quote from the letter: "All of our canned meats

go through a sterilization process during canning which makes them shelf-stable. According to our foods technologists, the shelf-life of the meat products is at least two years (see below for the shelf-life of Sliced Dried Beef). After this some small chemical changes may occur within the product which don't affect the safety but may make it look unappetizing. Many canned items may be stored unopened for

years with only slight deterioration of the product.

How to Read the Production Code The production code is spray-jetted or

stamped on the bottom of the container. The first letter represents the month of production. "A"stands for January, "B" for February and so on. The next two numbers represent the day of the month the product was processed. The third number indicates the year. If the production code reads A127C23, it was produced

January12, 1997. (This does not apply to ARMOUR STAR ROAST BEEF OR CORNED BEEF.) Armour Star Microwaveable Meals

Microwaveable cups have a two-lined production code spray-jetted or

stamped on the lid of the container. The second line is the date portion of the code. It is de-coded using the same method described above.

Sliced Dried Beef---Specific Information Armour Star Sliced Beef is

packaged in either a plastic pouch or glass jar. Our Dried "Beef goes through a salt-curing process during manufacture. It is the salt which preserves the product and makes it possible to store it unrefrigerated for a long period of

time. To eliminate the salty taste you can rinse each slice of dried beef

under warm tap water for 15seconds before using. Each slice will be more tender. After extended storage the salt used for preserving Sliced Dried

Beef may crystallize. The tendency to "salt out" and develop a strong odor

increases with age. This condition will affect the flavor of the product. We suggest the product not be eaten if this occurs. The maximum shelf-life for an unopened container of Sliced Dried Beef is18 months for product packaged in a plastic pouch or 24 months for product packaged in a glass jar. After that time the product may develop a "gassy or "cheesy" odor which will not affect the safety, but may make it unpalatable. Because Sliced Dried Beef is a cured (smoked and

salted) product, however, spoilage should not occur unless the container is

severely damaged. Once the container has been opened the product may be stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Instructions for reading the product code is the same as for other Armour Star Canned Meats.

Phone Numbers ;

Household and Laundry Products

1-800-45-PUREX (457-8739

Personal Care Products

1-800-258-DIAL (258-3425)

Food Products

1-800-528-0849

KRAFT FOODS

It is difficult to tell you how long you can expect to store a product after the date stamped on the package. Perishability of individual products does vary. How a product has been handled during distribution and in the home can also have a bearing on how long a product will stay fresh. To assure the best quality and flavor, we recommend that you use this product on or before the date stamped.

GENERAL MILLS

Thank you for contacting us at the General Mills Corporate Web site for

an explanation of our product code information. All food products have an established length of time for storage. Determining how long to save

products is often confusing to consumers. The following overview, of the three methods of coding used on our products, will help you make these determinations:

BETTER IF USED BY DATE

Big G cereal and Bisquick use this style coding on the box tops. These

products are guaranteed to be fresh through this date.

SELL BY DATE

Colombo and Yoplait refrigerated yogurts state this information on the

containers or lids. For optimum quality, these products should be consumed within seven days after this date.

MANUFACTURING DATE

The manufacturing date is coded to the fiscal year, which begins on the

1st of June and is completed the following May 31st. It is interpreted as follows:

The first letter of the code indicates the month in which the product was made.

* The number immediately following is the last number of the year in

which the product was made.

* The next two numbers indicate the day of the month of production.

The following letters and number(s) represent plant and shift information identifying the location of production.

A code date which reads A829W is translated as follows:

"A" = June

"8" = 1998

"29" indicates the 29th day of the month

"W" indicates production at our West Chicago plant.

(Most of our products have a shelf life of at least 8-12 months.)

Our 12-month cycle is listed below. We don't use the letter "I" because

it may be confused with a number.

A - JUNE

B - JULY

C - AUGUST

D - SEPTEMBER

E - OCTOBER

F - NOVEMBER

G - DECEMBER

H - JANUARY

J - FEBRUARY

K - MARCH

L - APRIL

M - MAY

Once a product is past its shelf life date, the taste and performancemay

not be of the highest quality. However, due to the low pH level of our products, it's virtually impossible for them to support food pathogens.

The question of "freshness" is quite different in the case of meats,

produce and dairy product, when compared with process-packed, canned or stable groceries. The major consumer concern, with long shelf-life products

such as ours, is not deterioration due to age, but deterioration due to

improper storage after the product leaves our control. Because imprinting pull dates on the tops of our products would not solve the problem, a more

satisfactory answer was needed. Thus, we implemented our Product Guarantee.

We are confident that the best protection we can give our consumers is to

insure them against loss through this guarantee, which is printed on every carton of our food products. It guarantees consumer satisfaction with the performance and/or quality of any General Mills' product purchased, or an adjustment will be made. We hope this information is helpful and that you continue to use and

enjoy our products.

CAMPBELL SOUP

Thank you for taking the time to contact Campbell Soup. The recommended

use by date is printed on the package. It always starts with a month and year. This is the last best date to consume the product by. After this date, we recommend that you discard the product. Please visit our web site again soon.

LIPTON Lipton dried soup 12-15 months after production

BERTOLLI OLIVE OIL Two years from date on package (bottle or can)

Q: What is the shelf life of DEL MONTE. products?

A: Refer to the following section for shelf-life guidelines:

Del Monte Product

Shelf-Life Guidelines

It should be noted that this information is meant only as a general guideline.

There is never a safety or health issue with product beyond its shelf life, only slight changes in color, flavor, and texture. The actual shelf life for any DEL MONTE. product is highly dependent on storage location and

temperature. As an example, for every 15 degree change in the temperature of

the storage location, the shelf life is reduced by 50% (i.e., if canned vegetables are stored at 80 degrees, rather than the ideal of 65 degrees, the shelf life would go from 30 months to 15 months). The ideal storage temperature over time is 65 degrees or cooler. Incidentally, we do recommend that any swollen or leaking

containers be discarded, regardless of their age.

PRODUCT AVERAGE SHELF LIFE

Vegetables Asparagus, Beets, Kraut 2 years

Cream Style Corn 2 years

All NSA Vegetables 2 years

All Other Vegetables 2.5 years

Fruits Orchard Select 9 months

Tropical Fruit Salad 1.5 years

Pineapple 2 years

Mandarin Orange 2 years

Fruit Cups 2 years

Lite Fruits 2 years

Fruit In Its Own Juice 2 years

Fruit Pleasures 2 years

All Other Fruit 2.5 years

Tomatoes and Tomato Products

No Salt Added Stewed 1.5 years

Sloppy Joe Sauces 1.5 years

Ketchup (glass & plastic) 2 years

Chili, Seafood Cocktail 2 years

Spaghetti Sauces 2 years

Crushed, Diced, Wedge, Stewed 2.5 years

Tomato Sauce and Paste 2.5 years

Juices/Vegetable Cocktail

Fruit Smoothies 1 year

Pineapple 1.5 years

SNAP-E-TOM Cocktail 1.5 years

Tomato 2 years

Tiny Kosher Dill Pickles 1 year

To Main Menu

Other Pickle Products 2 years