Similar to expiration dates for food, I think it would be neat if there was a label that told you when the food was "created", be it picked, packed, prepared or packaged. Frozen meals come to mind, as I munch on my frozen chicken chow mein. It would be interesting to know when this box was made, not necessarily put on the shelves, but rather put together and shipped out to stores. That way I could have a general idea of how long ago the ingredients were living and breathing. Just thought it would be good to know.
I think some items do have a manufacturing date on them, as well as an expiration date. But if you're worried about that so much, it might just be better to eat real food as opposed to pre-made, packaged stuff.
all prepared/packaged food items have the manufacture/packaging date on them, it's called a lot number. Sometime the date is obvious in the lot numbers, sometimes it's coded. Lot numbers always contain the location, date, time and manufacturing line if applicable, it's simply a matter of knowing how to read them I used to know the codes for pepsi/frito stuff, different beers, etc, from managing retail stores, but I've probably forgotten most of them.
Interesting... I'm looking at the empty carton of my chow mein, and the expiration date is obvious, but there are some cryptic numbers surrounding it. Could this be the lot number? I was thinking it would be interesting to have it just as clear as the exp. date. And yes, Rat, I definitely should be eating more real food, not this frozen garbage. But it's so quick, and often delicious...
Frozen raw is fine, it's just when they cook it, then freeze and add chemicals that it's a problem. Bag of frozen veggies, covered microwave safe-dish, 5 minutes and bam - super quick healthy food
I have yet to figure out why butter does not have a best before date. Even better is how they teach those chickens to stamp their eggs.
meat will always have an establishment number too at least in Canada they do http://www.inspection.gc.ca/active/scripts/meavia/reglist/reglist.asp?lang=e
