On a product made for the US market, 04/10/26 means April 10, 2026. On a product made for Europe, the UK and most other countries, it means 4 October 2026, and EU law requires that order on best-before and use-by dates.
If a number is over 12, it's the day, and the question is settled. If not, check where the product comes from, then ask which reading makes sense for the food. When both still fit, go by the earlier date.
Who writes dates which way
| Market | Usual order | Example | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Month, day, year | 10/04/26 | Convention; federal rules don't set a format |
| European Union | Day, month, year | 04.10.26 | Required by Regulation 1169/2011, Annex X |
| United Kingdom | Day, month, year | 04/10/26 | Same rule, kept in UK law |
| Canada (best before) | Year, month (word or code), day | 26 OC 04 | CFIA date marking rules |
| Anywhere | Four-digit year first | 2026-10-04 | Unambiguous: year, month, day |
The US has no federal format because it has almost no federal dating rules at all. USDA notes that product dating isn't required by federal regulation except for infant formula, so each company prints dates its own way. Many US brands sidestep the problem by spelling out the month.
The EU is the opposite. Its food information regulation says a best-before or use-by date “shall consist of the day, the month and possibly, the year, in that order and in uncoded form.” A European product that uses numbers only is day first, by law.
Canada's year-first dates and two-letter months
Canada does it differently again. Under CFIA's rules, a best-before date shows the year first (and the year is only required when it's needed for clarity, such as when the date falls in the next year), then the month, then the day in numbers. The month can be written out or given as a two-letter symbol that works in English and French:
| Code | Month |
|---|---|
JA | January |
FE | February |
MR | March |
AL | April |
MA | May |
JN | June |
JL | July |
AU | August |
SE | September |
OC | October |
NO | November |
DE | December |
So 26 OC 04 is October 4, 2026, and JN 28 is June 28. Watch out for MA (May) and MR (March), and for AL, which is April (from the French avril), not August (AU).
Clues on the package
- A number over 12.
13/10/26or10/13/26can only be read one way. Check every date on the package: a packed-on date like09/20/26printed by the same machine tells you its order. - Where it was made and for whom. “Product of Italy,” an EU address, a UK importer or a label in German or French points to day first. A US distributor and English-only packaging point to month first. Imported products sold in the US sometimes keep the origin's format, so this is a clue, not proof.
- The phrase in front of it.
MHD,DDM,À CONSOMMERorBEST BEFORE ENDare European phrasing; a European phrase almost always comes with a day-first date. - Dots as separators.
04.10.26is typical of European printing. It's a hint, not a rule. - A year up front. If a four-digit year comes first (
2026-10-04), the order is year, month, day; there's no ambiguity.
The plausibility check
When the package gives no clue, the calendar usually does. Ask two questions of each reading: is it in the future, and does it fit how long this food lasts?
| Label | Food | Reading 1 | Reading 2 | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
04/10/26 | Yogurt | April 10, 2026: five months ago | October 4, 2026: next week | October 4 |
02/11/26 | Sliced cheese | February 11, 2026: long past | November 2, 2026: about 5 weeks out | November 2 |
10/01/26 | Fresh chicken | October 1, 2026: in 5 days | January 10, 2026: long past | October 1 |
03/04/27 | Canned tomatoes | March 4, 2027 | April 3, 2027 | Both fit; use March 4 |
The second question matters when both readings are still ahead of you. If a pack of fresh chicken could mean next week or next month, it's the nearer date: FDA's storage chart gives raw chicken 1–2 days in the fridge. For fresh meat, poultry and fish, the day you bought it is a better guide than a date you can't read; the shelf life chart lists fridge times for each.
The fourth row is the one no rule can settle. When both readings are plausible, use the earlier one. For a can of tomatoes, a month either way makes no difference to safety; it's a quality date. For a perishable food, the earlier date is the careful choice.
When you still can't tell
- Go with the earlier reading, and plan to use the food by then.
- Look for a phone number or website on the package; manufacturers answer this question routinely.
- Remember what kind of date it is. Most dates are about quality, not safety (see date labels explained). If a perishable food smells, looks or feels wrong, the date doesn't matter. When in doubt, throw it out.
- Type the label into the expiration date decoder to see both readings side by side with the number of days to each.
How FreshScan handles it
FreshScan reads numeric dates in your iPhone's regional order by default: month first if your phone is set to the US, day first for most other regions. You can override it under Settings → Scanning → Numeric dates: Automatic, Month first (09/17) or Day first (17/09).
When a date works both ways, FreshScan doesn't guess. It shows a card that says the date “can be read two ways” with both full dates, and you tap the right one. A reading that's already long past, or years away, counts against it, so the sensible reading is usually at the top. A date with a number over 12, a spelled-out month or a year-first date is read directly. One gap to know about: FreshScan doesn't recognize Canada's two-letter month codes, so for a 26 OC 04 label, enter the date by hand.
Shop from both sides of the Atlantic? FreshScan shows both readings of an ambiguous date and lets you choose, so an imported cheese doesn't get a reminder six months late.
Free on theApp StoreQuestions people ask
Do US food labels always put the month first?
Almost always, but nothing in federal law requires it. Food dating is voluntary in the US except on infant formula, so the format is up to the manufacturer. Month first is the everyday US convention, and a spelled-out month (OCT 04) is common precisely because it avoids the question.
Why do European dates put the day first?
Day-month-year is the everyday order in most of Europe, and EU food labeling law makes it a rule: best-before and use-by dates must show the day, the month and possibly the year, in that order and uncoded. The UK kept the same rule.
What does 26 OC 04 mean on a Canadian product?
October 4, 2026. Canada's best-before dates put the year first (when it's shown), then the month as a word or a two-letter bilingual code, then the day. OC is October, JN is June, JL is July and so on.
If I can't tell which date it is, which one should I use?
Use the earlier of the two readings. If the earlier one turns out to be wrong, you've only used the food a little sooner than needed. If the food is perishable and you truly can't tell, judge it by how long that food keeps from when you bought it, and throw it out if in doubt.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, Annex X — EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex X (as retained in UK law) — legislation.gov.uk
- Date markings and storage instructions — Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Year-first order and bilingual month symbols
- Food Product Dating — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Refrigerator & Freezer Storage Chart — U.S. Food and Drug Administration