Open dating on food products

"Use-by" dates usually refer to best quality and are not safety dates.

For example, if hot dogs are left out for a several hours they will not be safe to consume even if the date hasn't expired.

Other examples of potential mishandling are products that have been: defrosted at room temperature more than two hours; cross contaminated; or handled by people who do not practice good sanitation.

It represents the number of days elapsed since the beginning of the calendar year.

For example, a Julian date of 031 represents January 31st and a Julian date of 365 represents December 31st.

For best quality, use eggs within 3 to 5 weeks of the date you purchase them. does not have a uniform system of coding expiration dates on food products as of 2010, according to the U. The USDA notes that while closed codes could refer to manufacturing date, the codes are not intended for consumer use and no single translation source exists. The codes, which might resemble a number like “2061” or “0195,” are usually stamped on the top or bottom of a can.

The "sell-by" date will usually expire during that length of time, but the eggs are perfectly safe to use. Manufacturers vary in listing the year or month first and some add numbers to the code that are not related to the date.Using these coding examples, 2061 translates to “2” for the month of February, “06” for the sixth day of the month and and so on.If the code uses letters, the letter A represents January and each subsequent letter represents the next month, ending with L for December.·Once a perishable product is frozen, it doesn't matter if the date expires because foods kept frozen continuously are safe indefinitely.Use of either a "Sell-By" or "Expiration" (EXP) date is not federally required, but may be State required, as defined by the egg laws in the State where the eggs are marketed.An open date on a food product is a date stamped by the manufacturer on a product’s package to ensure quality.