How to read the expiry date codes on food packs
What EXP, BB, MFG and LOT mean, how to tell the day from the month, what a number like 24298 is, and where to find the date on cans, sachets and cartons.
KeepyWritten and checked by the Keepy team · 5 min read
The short answer
Look at the words in front of the date. EXP, Best before (BB) or Use by (UB) is the date to go by. MFG or PROD is when the food was made, and LOT is a batch code, not a date. Most of the world writes the date day, month, year; packs made for the US often put the month first. A bare number like 24298 is usually a code for the factory, not for you.
A pack can carry three or four different numbers, and only one of them tells you how long the food keeps. This guide shows you how to find it, what the letters around it mean, and how to decode the awkward ones.
Find the date first
The date is usually printed, not part of the label artwork, so look for small dotted or stamped characters:
- Cans: on the lid or the bottom.
- Cartons and bottles: on the top, the shoulder or the cap.
- Sachets and snack bags: along the sealed edge or on the back, near the barcode.
If the date isn't next to its wording, the label usually tells you where to look, such as "Best before: see base of can". Some countries' rules spell this out.4
What the letters mean
| On the pack | What it means |
|---|---|
| Best before, BB, Best before end, BBE, Best if used by | A quality date: the food keeps its best quality until then if stored as the pack says.1 2 |
| Use by, UB | A safety date for food that goes off quickly. Don't eat it after this date.3 |
| EXP, Exp. date, Expiry | The date the product is good until. Read it like the main date on the pack. |
| MFG, MFD, PROD, Production date | When the food was made. Not an indication of how long it keeps.1 |
| PKD, Packed on | When the food was packed. Also not an indication of how long it keeps.1 |
| LOT, Batch | The batch the food came from, so the maker can trace it. Not a date for you. |
| Sell by | For shops, to rotate stock. Neither a quality nor a safety date.6 |
Day first or month first?
In the EU, the date is written day, month, year,2 and so are the dates on packs in many other countries. So 12/03/26 on a pack from Europe means 12 March 2026. Packs made for the US often put the month first, so the same numbers would mean 3 December 2026.
Two quick checks when you're not sure:
- If one of the first two numbers is above 12, it must be the day:
24/10/26can only be 24 October. - If the month is written in letters (OCT, MAR), there's no doubt at all.
Codex, the international food standards body, leaves it to each country to decide whether packs that use only numbers must show the order, for example with DD/MM/YYYY next to the date.1
Only a month and a year?
That's normal for food that keeps a long time. Under EU rules, food that keeps for three to 18 months may show just the month and year, and food that keeps longer may show just the year, with the wording "Best before end".2 It means the quality is guaranteed until the end of that month or year.
Coded dates and numbers like 24298
Some packs carry a coded date instead of, or as well as, a plain one. A common type is the Julian date, where a number from 001 to 365 stands for the day of the year, with 1 January as 001.5 Makers often put two digits for the year in front of it, so 24298 would be the 298th day of 2024: 24 October 2024.
Coded dates are mainly packing numbers for the maker's own use.5 If a code is all you can find, look for a readable date elsewhere on the pack, and check the food itself.
24 October 2026Day first, as in the EU and most of the world.
End of October 2027Month and year only, for food that keeps a long time.
EXP 12.03.27
Made 12 March 2026, good until 12 March 2027Go by the EXP line.
24298
A batch code and a coded date24298 = day 298 of 2024. For the factory, not for you.
The rules around the world
| Where | The date you'll see | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| EU | "Best before (end)" and "Use by" | Day, month, year, in that order. After the use-by date, food is deemed unsafe.2 |
| UK | "Best before" and "Use by" | Best before is about quality, use by about safety.3 |
| US | Usually "Best if Used By" | Dates are voluntary except on infant formula.7 For food made from 1 July 2026, California uses "BEST if Used by" and "USE by" (or BB and UB on small packs) and bans "Sell by".6 |
| Indonesia | "Baik digunakan sebelum" | One legal expiry date, day, month, year; month and year are allowed for food that keeps over three months.4 |
When there's no date at all
Some food doesn't need one. Under the international standard, fresh fruit and vegetables that haven't been cut, wine, vinegar, and bakery goods normally eaten within a day can go without a date.1 Food from a market stall or a loose tray usually has none either.
Questions
Is the lot or batch code the same as the expiry date?
No. A lot or batch code tells the maker which production run the food came from, so they can trace it. The date to go by is the one after Best before, Use by or EXP.
Is EXP the same as best before?
They're often used for the same date: the end of the period the maker guarantees the quality. Where a pack shows both best before and use by, as in the EU and the UK, use by is the stricter one.3 Our guide to best before vs use by explains the difference.
What does 120326 mean on a pack?
On a pack from the EU or most of the world, read it day, month, year: 12 March 2026. If the pack was made for the US, it could be month first, so look for letters (MAR) or a number above 12 to be sure.
Why does my pack show only the month and year?
Because the food keeps for a long time, and the rules allow a shorter date for it.2 Treat it as the end of that month.
Is a sell-by date an expiry date?
No. A sell-by date is meant for shops, to help them rotate stock. It isn't a quality or a safety date, and California no longer allows it on food made from 1 July 2026.6
Sources
- General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods, CXS 1-1985 (revised 2018), Codex Alimentarius (FAO/WHO), copy published by the Vanuatu Bureau of Standards
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, Article 24 and Annex X, European Union (EUR-Lex)
- Best before and use-by dates, Food Standards Agency (UK)
- Peraturan BPOM No. 31 Tahun 2018 tentang Label Pangan Olahan, Pasal 34–35, Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan (Indonesia)
- Food Product Dating, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service fact sheet, published by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture
- Food date labeling (AB 660), California Department of Food and Agriculture
- How to Cut Food Waste and Maintain Food Safety, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2024
Facts checked against the sources on 24 Oct 2026.
