Date Labeling on Foods

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Except for infant formula and some baby foods, product dating is not generally required by the federal government.  Dating of some foods is required in over 20 states but there is no uniform accepted dating system in the U.S.  There are some areas where almost none of the food is dated.

Types of Dates

• A “Sell-By” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale. You should buy the product before the date expires.
• A “Best if Used By (or Before)” date is recommended for best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
• A “Use-By” date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. The date has been determined by the manufacturer of the product.
• “Closed or coded dates” are packing numbers for use by the manufacturer.

Safety After Expiration Date
Except for “use-by” dates, product dates don’t always refer to home storage and use after purchase. “Use-by” dates usually refer to best quality and are not safety dates. But even if the date expires during home storage, a product should be safe, wholesome and of good quality — if handled properly and kept at 40° F or below. See the accompanying refrigerator charts for storage times of dated products. If product has a “use-by” date, follow that date. If product has a “sell-by” date or no date, cook or freeze the product by the times on the chart.

Codes on Cans
Can codes are usually made up of letters and/or numbers.  This lets the manufacture to track products in interstate commerce. They also use this code to rotate their stock, and to find their products in the case of a recall.  These codes are not meant for the consumer.

Generally, high-acid canned foods such as tomatoes, grapefruit and pineapple can be stored 12 to 18 months.  Low-acid canned foods such as meat, poultry, fish and most vegetables can keep 2 to 5 years.  The cans need to be stored in a cool, clean, and dry place.

Egg Cartons“Sell by” or “expiration” dates are not required by the federal government, but may be required by your state.   Many eggs reach the stores a few days after the hen lays them.

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Egg cartons with the USDA grade on must give the “pack date”.  This is the day that the eggs were washed, graded, and packed into the carton.  The code date can not exceed 45 days from the packing date.  The 3 digit code uses the “Julian Date”.   It starts with January 1 as 001 and ending with December 31 as 365.

Always buy eggs before the “Sell-By” or “EXP” date. At home refrigerate the eggs in their original carton and put them in the coldest part of the refrigerator.  Do not store them in the door. For best quality, use eggs within 3 to 5 weeks of the date you purchase them. The “sell-by” date will usually expire during that length of time, but the eggs are perfectly safe to use.

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UPC or Bar Codes
Universal Product Codes are black lines over a series of numbers. They are not required by law but are printed so supermarket scanners can “read” the price at checkout.  They are also used for inventory.  Bar Codes are not used to identify recalled products.

Storage Tips
Product dates are not a guide for the food’s safety.   Follow these tips to store food and still be able to keep it at top quality:

• Purchase the product before the date expires.
• If perishable, take the food home right away after buying and refrigerate it immediately. Freeze it if you can’t use it within the times recommended on chart.
• Once a perishable product is frozen, it doesn’t matter if the date expires because foods kept frozen continuously are safe indefinitely.
• Follow handling recommendations on product.
• Consult the following storage chart.

Refrigerator Home Storage (at 40 °F or below) of Fresh or Uncooked Products

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If product has a “use-by” date, follow that date.  If product has a “sell-by” date or no date, cook or freeze the product by the times on the chart below.

Refrigerator Home Storage (at 40 °F or below) of Processed Products Sealed at Plant

If product has a “use-by” date, follow that date.  If product has a “sell-by” or no date, cook or freeze the product by the times on the chart below.

(Source:  U.S. Gov’t/2-8-08)

Family Home Storage – A New Message

Check the expiration date on your ideas about home storage.

You may need to throw some of them out.

When a sister in her ward suggested a different approach, Sister Jeffries discovered the key to successful home storage: consistently and gradually increasing her food supply.

Setting aside a particular amount in her budget for home storage, she purchased a few extra items from the grocery store each week. She also purchased one basic food item like grains and beans from the Church home storage center each month.

Many years later, in October 2002, Sister Jeffries was impressed when President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910– 2008) suggested that Church members adopt a simpler approach to home storage.

“We can begin ever so modestly,” President Hinckley explained. “We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months.”  Sister Jeffries notes that “the beauty of this system is its appropriateness for families just starting their storage programs, as well as for those living in small homes and apartments, where space is at a premium. President Hinckley clearly recognized that change and adaptation are needed so that all of us might benefit from the Lord’s inspired program.”

A New Approach

In the spirit of President Hinckley’s remarks, Church leaders decided to closely reexamine their approach to self-reliance, looking for ways to reinforce the concepts of home storage and financial preparedness. As a result, the Church published the pamphlet All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, outlining new guidelines for home preparedness that give Church members a simplified, four-step approach to building their home storage.

They are as follows:

1. Gradually build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet until it is sufficient for three months.
2. Store drinking water. explained. “We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months.”
3. Establish a financial reserve by setting aside a little money each week, and gradually increase it to a reasonable amount.
4. Once families have achieved the first three objectives, they are counseled to expand their efforts, as circumstances allow, into a supply of long-term basic foods such as grains, legumes, and other staples.

Of the new guidelines, Presiding Bishop H. David Burton says, “Our objective was to establish a simple, inexpensive, and achievable program that would help people become self-reliant. We are confident that by introducing these few, simple steps we can, over time, have more success.”

Guideline 1: Build your three-month supply gradually.

Start small and do the best you can. Begin by purchasing a few extra items to add to your storage each week.  Strive to build a one-week supply; then expand it to a one-month supply, then a three-month supply. By building your supply slowly, you can avoid financial strain and start down the path toward self-reliance.

The Lugo family of Valencia, Venezuela, learned that this new approach of starting small and being consistent can pay big dividends. After listening to general conference, Brother Omar Lugo, a Church member in the Falcón Venezuela District, felt inspired to begin his own home storage. He discussed the matter with his family, and they agreed to follow the prophet’s counsel.

They began setting aside food, water, and money, a  little at a time. At first the difference was hardly noticeable.  But after a while the Lugos found that they had accumulated a substantial reserve. Several months after they began building their home storage, a worker’s strike in Venezuela put many local workers’ jobs in jeopardy. Brother Lugo was among those who eventually lost their jobs.

For a time his family lived on savings. Seven months later the Lugo family was relying exclusively on the food they had stored. It took nearly two years for Brother Lugo to find work again, but his family was able to survive the difficult challenges of unemployment. They had built their reserve gradually, and when adversity struck, they were prepared and the Lord blessed them.   Like the Lugo family, Church members will be blessed for their obedience to the First Presidency’s counsel as they gradually build home storage. “We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings,” the First Presidency explains. “Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once.” Rather, they suggest a modest, consistent approach. “With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve”

Guideline 2: Store drinking water.

In times of need, having water to drink can be the difference between life and death—or at least between peace and anxiety. Just ask the Kawai family, members of the São Paulo Brazil Stake. They have been storing food and water for 20 years. Although their small apartment doesn’t have much room to spare, the Kawais decided to make home storage a priority.

Sister Kawai tells of one experience when that decision paid off. “I was in the hospital having just given birth when I learned that there was a problem with the city’s water pipes,” Sister Kawai explains. “Hundreds of thousands of people were without water. But I wasn’t concerned about going home. I had peace of mind knowing that my family would have water to drink.”

Guideline 3: Set aside a little money.

From the First Presidency comes this counsel: “We encourage you wherever you may live in the world to prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures. . . . Save a little money regularly to gradually build a financial reserve.”

In the April 2007 general conference Bishop Keith B. McMullin, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, reinforced this principle, exhorting Church members to “save some money, if only a few coins each week. This modest approach will soon enable them to have several months’ reserve.”

By gradually building a financial reserve, we will be prepared for unforeseen trials and have an added measure of security and peace in our hearts.

Guideline 4: Where possible, gradually establish a longer term supply.

“For longer-term needs,” explains the All Is Safely Gathered In pamphlet, “gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans.”

Establishing long-term storage is easier than some might think. Dr. Oscar Pike and his colleagues in the Brigham Young University Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science have done several in-depth studies on long term food storage. They discovered something surprising: properly packaged and stored low-moisture food retains much of its sensory (taste) quality and nutritional value for 20 to 30 or more years after being placed in storage much longer than previously supposed.

This means Church members can store certain foods long-term without the worry of regularly rotating the food.  They can be confident that their supply will be there to keep them alive if they have nothing else to eat.

The Time to Begin Is Now

“Perhaps in the past accumulating a year’s supply of food may have been a little intimidating and even illegal in some places,” says Dennis Lifferth, managing director of Church Welfare Services. “But this new approach asks us to do the best we can, even if all we can do is to set aside a can or two each week. If the prophet asks us to do something, we can find a way to fulfill the commandment and receive the blessings.”

“This new program is within everyone’s grasp,” explains Bishop Burton. “The first step is to begin. The second is to continue. It doesn’t matter how fast we get there so much as that we begin and continue according to our abilities.”

“Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their . . . supply of food . . . and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year’s supply of debt and are food-free.”

“That Noble Gift—Love at Home,” Church News, May 12, 2001, 7 President Thomas S. Monson

“Everyone who owns a home recognizes the need for fire insurance. We hope and pray that there will never be a fire. Nevertheless, we pay for insurance to cover such a catastrophe should it occur. We ought to do the same with reference to family welfare.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008),  “To Men of the Priesthood,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2002, 58

“Learn to sustain yourselves; lay up grain and flour, and save it against a day of scarcity.”

President Brigham Young (1801–77), Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe (1954)