How to Read Codes on Canned Foods

You can keep a pantry in steady rotation so expiring canned foods are used first once you understand the meaning behind the label codes. Canned food manufacturing companies use a series of letter and number codes to denote information from date and location of production to date of expiration. The codes on canned goods often differ from company to company but the important information can often be deciphered using a few basic techniques and a little research.

Things You'll Need

• Magnifying glass (optional)
• Pencil
• Paper

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Instructions

• 1

  Stand in a well-lit area and search the top, bottom and label of the canned food item for alpha-numeric sequences. Some companies hide codes under the label but these are often lot codes and manufacturer information. A magnifying glass may be helpful to read codes that are small.

• 2

  Write down the name of the manufacturer, the food product and the size along with any codes you find on the can. Codes below the words "Best by," "Use by" and "Sell by" are often written in MMDDYY format without any encoding so that retailers and consumers are able to read and understand them.

• 3

  Visit the website MealTime.org (see the link in Resources) for canned food coding guidelines used by few different companies. If you are unable to locate the information there, go directly to the canned foods company website to look for a can code directory in the "Frequently Asked Questions" section. If the company website offers no help, try sending an email to the company using the "contact us" link on the page. Be sure to include all the codes and other pertinent data about the canned food product.

• 4

  Maintain a running log of the canned food coding information that you receive from each manufacturer so that you can apply it to other products they make.