http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46994
Shelf Life of Food Storage and other items
http://www.fmi.org/consumer/foodkeeper/brochure.cfm
After selecting food items, it’s up to you to take care of them properly.
The Food Keeper contains valuable food safety and storage advice to help you maintain the freshness and quality of foods that you purchase.
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Shelf life of foods and other items- How long to keep things on the shelf and other tips.
Canned Goods:
http://www.foodreference.com/html/t...dshelflife.html
Condiments:
http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Info/condiments.html
Other items:
http://www.a1usa.net/gary/expire.html
Hormel.com - for many different food groups not just Hormel Products
How to determine the shelf life of foods -
Kroger brand foods - How to read codes and tell Exp dates
Dept of Health Services - guidelines - charts with expiration guidelines of all foods
Cupboard storage chart - at bottom of this webpage This is a really good chart and is easily printed off to keep in your cupboards.
Dehydrated foods - how long to store
Shelf life of Pet Foods
Home canned foods
http://www.msnbc.com/OnAir/nbc/Dateline/Food/shelf.asp
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Consumer Reports definitions
READ more about it....
“Use by,” “best if used by,“ or “quality assurance” date:
The last date the product is likely to be at peak flavor and quality. One of these dates is often placed on foods such as cereal, which may decline in flavor and quality. It doesn’t mean the food is unsafe after that date.
“Sell by” or “pull”:
An indication, to the retailer, of the last day on which a product should be sold. It takes into account time for the food to be stored and used at home. You should buy it before the date, but don’t have to use it by then. You should be able to use milk, say, for up to about seven days after the sell-by date.
Pack or package date:
The date the food—fresh meat, for example—was packed or processed. Consumers can tell which package is fresher and choose that one. A pack date isn’t an indication of safety.
“Expiration”:
For most foods, this indicates the last date on which they should be eaten or used. Eggs are an exception: If you buy federally graded eggs before the expiration date (which must be no more than 30 days from when they were put in the carton), you should be able to use them safely for the next 3 to 5 weeks.
“Born on”:
Initiated by Anheuser-Busch, it’s supposed to let buyers choose the freshest beer. According to the company, its beer is freshest and tastes best within 110 days from the born-on date.
Coded date:
A series of letters or numbers or both used by the manufacturer to track foods across state lines and, if necessary, recall them. The code isn’t meant as a use-by date.
Other words to the wise:
As a rule, high-acid canned foods such as tomatoes can be stored on the shelf for 12 to 18 months; properly stored low-acid canned foods such as meat, fish, and most vegetables will keep 2 to 5 years. Don’t use a can that’s bulging. If perishable foods are packaged and frozen properly, they will be safe to eat after the expiration date, although the food may suffer freezer burn if it’s stored for a long time. And if a food bears a date without words? Unfortunately, you’ll have to guess what it means.
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Spring and Fall is a good time to Rotate your foodstorage!!!!
Check the dates on your stock pile and rotate.
Some stores have a caselot sale this week so restock your shelves!!
Monitor the usage of your canned vegies and fruits to see how much you will need to restock during the Fall months when the case lot sales are offered.
Use up your older cake mixes, pasta and other prepared mixes. You don’t want them to go stale or have weevils invade your pantry.
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Walton Feed/Rainy Day Foods - canned. (800)847-0465
New Code as of Sep 98
CODE:You’ll find 2ea 5 digit numbers on top of the can. The first number of 5 digits contains the internal code for product and batch number. The 2nd 5 digit number contains the date. The first three numbers is the day of the year. The last two digits reflect the year.
Example: 09899=98th day of the 99th year or 5 Apr 99.
SHELF LIFE: See our storage life of foods page.
Old Code Before Sep 98
Code: There’s a 5 digit number on top of the can. The first two numbers are a code for the food, the 3rd number is the year and the last two numbers are the month. Example: 47210=Oct 92; 59501=Jan 95
SHELF LIFE: See our storage life of foods page.
8 = year = 1998
200 = the 200th day in 1998 = July 19
V2140 = plant information
SHELF LIFE: Product (unopened) is good for 2 years from packing date (i.e., July 19, 2000)
7 = year = 1997
M = plant
8 = month = August
31 = day of the month = 31
SHELF LIFE: Product (unopened) is good for 2 years from the packing date (i.e., August 31, 1999)
This date is printed in white near the universal product bar code “(UPC)” and might look something like this: 1122Y320.
CODE: First number is year, next three are the numeric day of the year
The first number represents the year it was made. 1 = 2001, 2 = 2002, etc. The next three numbers represent the day of the year the product was made. In our example, the 122 (or one hundred and twenty second day) is May 2.
For instance, the 1 in our example code means it was made in 2001. A number 0 would mean it was made in 2000, 9 in 1999, and so on.
The remaining numbers and letters are plant codes, which have nothing to do with the date.
8 = year = 1998
200 = 200th day of 1998 = July 19
3 = the shift the food was packed
SHELF LIFE: Product (unopened) is good 2 years from the packing date (i.e., July 19, 2000)
CODE: Code on both: First number is year. Next three are Julian calendar.
SHELF LIFE:: Reg crisco in can has indefinite shelf life. Should be used within 12 months of opening.
**Butter flavor has a shelf life of 18 months, to be used within 6-12 months of opening.
Publix Coffee, regular brick
CODE: First 3 digits are Julian date, 4th is year.
SHELF LIFE:: 1 year
Publix Evaporated milk (800)242-1227
CODE: First digit year, next 3 is Julian date
SHELF LIFE:: 18-24 mo
Publix Jelly/Jam/Choc Syrup Has “best if used by” date stamped on label
SHELF LIFE:: 1 year
Publix Nondairy Creamer Has “best if used by” date stamped on label
SHELF LIFE:: 12 mo
Publix Peanut Butter Has “best if used by” date stamped on label
SHELF LIFE:: 1 year
Publix Veggies in can (305)652-2411, ask for Annette Vaughn at X3870
CODE: First dig is year, 2nd is month. The mo is represented by a number from Jan to Sept. For Oct, Nov, or Dec, it is represented by a O, N, or D
SHELF LIFE:: 2 years