Check the edges first. Dates are usually printed on the top or bottom end of a can, the neck, shoulder or cap of a bottle, the top of a carton or cereal box, the top edge or back of a bag, and the lid, neck or bottom of jars and cups. Many are tiny dot-matrix print or stamped into the metal with no ink, which is why they're easy to miss.
Look for the words, not just numbers: find BEST BY, USE BY, SELL BY or EXP and the date is next to it. On meat, poultry and egg products, USDA says a phrase explaining the date must sit immediately next to it. If there's still nothing, the food may simply not be dated: in the US, federal rules require a use-by date only on infant formula.
Where to look first
Cans
Top or bottom end, often embossed
Bottles and jugs
Neck, shoulder or cap
Cartons
Top, near the gable or spout
Chip and snack bags
Front along the top, or the back
Cereal boxes
Top flap
Jars
Lid, neck or back label
Tubs and cups
Lid, rim or bottom
Egg cartons
One end or side
Package by package
| Package | Look here first | Then check |
|---|---|---|
| Cans (soup, vegetables, formula powder) | Top or bottom end | The other end, then the paper label |
| Bottles and jugs | Neck or shoulder, just under the cap | Top of the cap, the top of the jug, the label |
| Cartons (milk, juice, broth, shakes) | Top of the carton | Side panels; on a multipack, the outer case |
| Chip and snack bags | Front, along the top edge | Back of the bag |
| Cereal and other dry-goods boxes | Top flap | Bottom flap and side panels |
| Jars (peanut butter, sauces) | Top of the lid | Neck, or the back label |
| Tubs and cups (yogurt, dips, sour cream) | Lid or rim | Bottom of the cup |
| Egg cartons | One end or side | The other end or side |
| Frozen food boxes and bags | End panel of the box | Back or bottom of a bag |
| Meat, poultry and deli | The printed label on the tray or film | A second store sticker |
| Bread | The plastic clip or the bag | Both ends of the bag |
| Bulk bins, produce, store bakery | Often no date at all | The store label or your receipt |
Cans
Campbell's says its “Best Used By” date is printed on the end of its cans. Enfamil says the Use By date on its powder cans is on the top or the bottom and is embossed: raised in the metal rather than printed, so it can be the same color as the can. The other end often carries a packing code instead. USDA says cans must carry one so the manufacturer can track the product, and that it “might refer to the date or time of manufacture” but isn't meant to be read as a use-by date. Bush's, for example, prints its lot codes on the bottom of its cans. If both ends show only codes, the canned food date codes guide explains how to pick a Julian day out of them. On tube cans of biscuits and rolls, check the metal ends before the paper wrap; see how long refrigerated dough keeps.
Bottles, jugs and cartons
On drink bottles, look at the neck. Gatorade says the top line of code on the bottle neck is its use-by date, and Campbell's prints dates on the lid or neck of its jars and bottles. Big jugs vary: Hood's recall notice for 96 oz Lactaid milk put the code and Best By date in the center-top area of the container. For cartons, the top is the usual place; a nutrition-drink recall told shoppers to look at the top of individual cartons and the side of the case for multipacks. Single cartons pulled from a multipack may not repeat the date, so read it off the case before you recycle it.
Bags and boxes
Bags are the least consistent. Frito-Lay's Ruffles notice put the “Guaranteed Fresh” date on the front of the bag along the top right, while a pita-chip recall put the Best if Used By date on the back. Check the front just under the top seal first, then flip it. On cereal, Kellogg's Honey Smacks notice placed the date on the top of the box and the UPC on the bottom. Frozen boxes often use an end panel: White Castle's frozen sliders print the lot code and best-by date on the end of the carton. Candy and snacks sold in a big bag of small pieces may only be dated on the outer bag; see how long candy keeps.
Jars, tubs and cups
Two peanut butter brands show how much this varies. Skippy's recall notice said the code date is on top of the lid. For Jif, FDA told shoppers to find the lot code on the back of the jar, under the Best If Used By date. On cups, try the bottom: an H-E-B coconut yogurt recall gave the Best By date as printed on the bottom of the cup. Lids and rims are the other common spot on yogurt and dips.
Egg cartons
Egg cartons usually carry the date and codes on one end or side. A July 2026 egg recall told shoppers to look for the plant code and Julian date printed on the left or right side of the carton. On USDA-graded eggs, the three-digit number is the pack date, not an expiration date, and a sell-by or EXP date may sit beside it. The egg carton dates guide shows how to read all three.
Bread
You may have heard that the color of the twist tie or plastic clip tells you the day the bread was baked. Bakeries do use colors to help store staff pull older loaves, but Snopes found that each producer uses its own system rather than an industry standard, so a color chart from the internet may not match your brand. Some clips have a date printed on them, and on those, Snopes notes, it marks when the bread should come off the shelf, not the bake day. Read the printed date, then see how long bread keeps.
Meat, poultry, deli and bulk
Meat and poultry trays usually carry the date on the printed label, often with a packed-on date as well. When a label shows two dates, the two dates on one label guide explains which to follow, and packed-on dates covers the one that looks backward. Food from bulk bins, loose produce and some store bakery items may have no date at all. Federal rules don't require one, though some states require dates on certain foods. For undated food, count from the day you bought it with the food expiration calculator or the shelf life chart.
How to read a faint, dot-matrix or embossed date
Inkjet dots fade and smear, and embossed dates have no ink at all. A few things help:
- Light from the side. Tilt the package under a lamp or window so the light skims across the surface. Raised and pressed characters cast small shadows that you can't see head-on.
- Phone flashlight, held low. Shine it from the side, not straight at a can end, where the glare hides the print.
- A pencil rubbing for embossed cans. Lay thin paper over the date and rub the side of a pencil lead across it. The raised characters come up dark.
- Something light behind clear bottles. Print on the neck of a dark drink disappears against the liquid. Hold the bottle up to a window or a sheet of white paper.
- Flatten and dry it. Smooth out a crinkled bag or a curved film label, and wipe off frost or condensation first.
- Take a photo and zoom in. A sharp photo is often easier to read than the package in your hand.
Dot-matrix digits are built from a small grid, so one missing dot can make an 8 look like a 6 or a 0. If a digit could be two things, and the two readings give different dates, plan around the earlier one. If you can't read the date at all, don't guess: go by how long the food has been in your kitchen and how it has been stored. When in doubt, throw it out.
Found some numbers. Which one is the date?
Packages often carry a date and one or more codes, sometimes on the same line. A typical can end and a typical bag line:
- Follow the phrase. The date is the one next to BEST BY, BB, USE BY, SELL BY or EXP. In the last stamp, that's
04OCT26, October 4, 2026. - A real date looks like a date: a month name, or a month and day that fall within the product's normal life.
- Skip the codes. LOT numbers, line codes like
L2, times like14:32, plant numbers likeP-1234, and Julian strings like26277are about production. The date codes guide explains how to read codes with letters and numbers, and the Julian date converter turns a day-of-year code into a date.
Still not sure? Type exactly what's printed into the expiration date decoder. For the date formats themselves, from 04/10/26 to BEST BEFORE END OCT 2026, see how to read expiration dates.
Found it? Point FreshScan at the date itself, not the whole package. For a dark label, turn on the flashlight button in the scanner. FreshScan shows what it read on a card so you can check it against the package before you save.
Free on theApp StoreA few things FreshScan does with the numbers around a date: it sets aside lot numbers and packed-on dates so they aren't taken for the expiry date, and when a label has two different dates, like a sell-by and a use-by, it lists both and asks which to track. It doesn't read Julian codes, such as the pack date on an egg carton; convert those and type the date in. If the camera can't pick up a faint embossed date, you can enter the date by hand.
Questions people ask
Where is the expiration date on a can?
Check both ends first. Campbell's prints its Best Used By date on the end of its cans, and Enfamil puts the Use By date on the top or bottom of its powder cans, embossed (raised) in the metal rather than printed in ink. If one end only has a string like 6263 L2 1432, that's a packing code; check the other end and the label for a date next to BEST BY or EXP.
Where is the expiration date on a plastic bottle?
Usually on the neck or shoulder just under the cap, or on the cap itself. Gatorade, for example, says the top line of code on the bottle neck is its use-by date. On a clear bottle of a dark drink, hold it up to a light so the print stands out.
How do you read an embossed expiration date?
Tilt the can under a light so the light skims across the end; the raised or pressed characters cast small shadows. A phone flashlight held low and to the side works too. You can also lay thin paper over the date and rub the side of a pencil lead across it so the characters show up.
Why is there no expiration date on my food?
In the US, federal rules require a use-by date only on infant formula; other dates are mostly voluntary, though some states require dates on certain foods, such as eggs. Produce, bulk-bin food and single pieces from a multipack may have no date of their own. Go by the day you bought it and a storage chart instead, and when in doubt, throw it out.
Do bread tie colors tell you when the bread was baked?
Sometimes, but not in a way you can rely on. Bakeries use colored ties and clips to help store staff pull older loaves, and each producer has its own system rather than an industry standard. Read the date printed on the clip or the bag instead.
Sources
- Food Product Dating — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. fsis.usda.gov blocks automated requests. The points used here (dates voluntary except infant formula, the explaining phrase next to a date on meat, poultry and egg products, can packing codes) were checked against search-result quotes of the current page and the Texas Department of State Health Services reproduction of the FSIS fact sheet: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/foodestablishments/pdf/GuidanceDocs/Food-Product-Dating
- Shell Eggs from Farm to Table — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Pack date on USDA-graded cartons; sell-by dates may be required by states
- FAQs (where the "Best Used By" date is printed) — Campbell's
- How to find expiration dates and lot numbers — Enfamil (Mead Johnson Nutrition)
- How do I read the code on the bottle? — Gatorade consumer help (PepsiCo). The page loads its answer with a script; the answer text was confirmed through search results quoting it
- Kellogg Company Voluntarily Recalls Honey Smacks Cereal Due to Possible Health Risk — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Date on the top of the box
- Frito-Lay Issues Voluntary Allergy Alert on Undeclared Milk in Small Number of Ruffles Original Potato Chips — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Date on the front of the bag, top right
- Legacy Snack Solutions Voluntarily Recalls Giant Eagle Baked Pita Chips with Parmesan, Garlic & Herb — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Date on the back of the bag
- Lyons Magnus Voluntarily Recalls 53 Nutritional and Beverage Products — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Date on the top of individual cartons, the side of multi-carton cases
- HP Hood LLC Recalls Select Units of 96 oz Refrigerated Lactaid Milk — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Code and Best By date in the center-top area of the container
- Voluntary Class II Recall Announced for a Limited Number of Jars of Skippy Peanut Butter Spread — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Code date on top of the lid
- Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella: Peanut Butter (May 2022) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Jif lot code on the back of the jar, under the Best If Used By date
- PlantBased Innovations Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Almond in H-E-B Dairy-Free Coconut Yogurt — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Best By date on the bottom of the cup
- White Castle Frozen Food Division Recalls Frozen 4-Count Cartons of Original Sliders — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Lot code and best by date on the end panel of the carton
- Midwest Poultry Services, L.P. Recalls Shell Eggs Due to Possible Salmonella Enteritidis Contamination — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Plant code and Julian date on the left or right side of the carton
- Bush Brothers & Company Recalls Certain Baked Beans in 28 Ounce Cans Due to a Can Seam Issue — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (company announcement). Lot codes on the bottom of the can
- Does the Color of a Bread Tag Indicate When the Loaf Was Baked? — Snopes