how do you read the dates on feed bags

[Perris]

Yup. Historically common and requires a much simpler machine to simply increment the Julian date rather than a computer to maintain human-readable dates.

but used to calculate the BB date which is then expressed in a form the consumer will immediately recognize, surely?

 

[Perris]

We are on the same page, posting at the same time @Sefirothe . So why don't animal feed bags also give the BB date in a form that consumers immediately recognize?

 

[Sefirothe]

Like TwoCheep said, easier to increment a single number each day rather than have to adjust multiple digits when a month rolls over. A lot of date code stamping machines are also probably fairly unsophisticated and old.

They could probably do it if they upgrade to a fancy new printer but why do that when the old one that worked for decades still does the job?

The pic below is of 50 pound bags of corn flour. First 4 digits are the batch/lot code, second two are the julian date missing the leading zero (why waste the ink?) second two digits are the year. Then the two single digits relate to the line it was produced on (if I'm remembering correctly) then the last four are the type of flour (Thin Chip #1 White corn flour).

The machine that printed it I dont think is capable of dashes or slashes. Plus the 2 or 3 digits of the Julian date plus 2 digit year also save ink meaning less digits to print in a 6 digit MM/DD/YY format.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Like TwoCheep said, easier to increment a single number each day rather than have to adjust multiple digits when a month rolls over. A lot of date code stamping machines are also probably fairly unsophisticated and old.

They could probably do it if they upgrade to a fancy new printer but why do that when the old one that worked for decades still does the job?

The pic below is of 50 pound bags of corn flour. First 4 digits are the batch/lot code, second two are the julian date missing the leading zero (why waste the ink?) second two digits are the year. Then the two single digits relate to the line it was produced on (if I'm remembering correctly) then the last four are the type of flour (Thin Chip #1 White corn flour).

The machine that printed it I dont think is capable of dashes or slashes. Plus the 2 or 3 digits of the Julian date plus 2 digit year also save ink meaning less digits to print in a 6 digit MM/DD/YY format.

View attachment 3938654

what the heck date is that ( in the photo)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Like TwoCheep said, easier to increment a single number each day rather than have to adjust multiple digits when a month rolls over. A lot of date code stamping machines are also probably fairly unsophisticated and old.

They could probably do it if they upgrade to a fancy new printer but why do that when the old one that worked for decades still does the job?

The pic below is of 50 pound bags of corn flour. First 4 digits are the batch/lot code, second two are the julian date missing the leading zero (why waste the ink?) second two digits are the year. Then the two single digits relate to the line it was produced on (if I'm remembering correctly) then the last four are the type of flour (Thin Chip #1 White corn flour).

The machine that printed it I dont think is capable of dashes or slashes. Plus the 2 or 3 digits of the Julian date plus 2 digit year also save ink meaning less digits to print in a 6 digit MM/DD/YY format.

View attachment 3938654

What happens when it's past the 99th day?

 

[Sefirothe]

what the heck date is that ( in the photo)

February 19, 2016

Its an OLD pic, I havent worked at that job for...a long time. And I'm a photo packrat who rarely deletes anything I take.

 

[Sefirothe]

What happens when it's past the 99th day?

Then it increments up to 3 digits or 100 on April 10th.

Julian dates are normally three digits. This particular vendor always omitted the leading zero when printing for day 10 thru 99. They DID include the leading zero when printing for day 01 to 09.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Then it increments up to 3 digits or 100 on April 10th.

Julian dates are normally three digits. This particular vendor always omitted the leading zero when printing for day 10 thru 99. They DID include the leading zero when printing for day 01 to 09.

Ah, okay

 

[TooCheep]

but used to calculate the BB date which is then expressed in a form the consumer will immediately recognize, surely?

Nope. Feed bags (at least the ones I've seen) only show the manufacture date. Best By dates are bogus anyway (at last in the US). They represent the date that the manufacturer is willing to guarantee the food quality. In fact, they are at least partly intended to get people to throw them out and buy new rather than storing long-term. Those dates only rarely reflect how long the food is actually safe/nutritious.

That is why our water bottles have best by dates- because water that has been around for millions of years will expire within a couple of years of being bottled. Likewise for salt.

 

[Perris]

Best By dates are bogus anyway (at last in the US). They represent the date that the manufacturer is willing to guarantee the food quality. In fact, they are at least partly intended to get people to throw them out and buy new rather than storing long-term. Those dates only rarely reflect how long the food is actually safe/nutritious.

this is true. But unlike water and salt, it matters very much for ultra-processed animal feed, which does not meet the advertised nutritional values stated very clearly on the bag, after its Best before date.