Reader Leo writes in with some helpful information that will allow you to avoid stale candy:
I work at a small-volume store in the midwest, and the other day my supervisor asked us to check all of the candy in the checkout lanes to see if it had expired. M&M Mars and Hershey brand candy both had different, indecipherable codes on the back which tell the expiration date. After calling the 1-800 number and finding out what the codes meant, we discovered that most of our candy stock was expired by a year or more. We even found candy that went bad from 2004. I figured I should share the codes, so people won’t buy expired candy, because it’s out there.For M&Ms and Mars candy, there’s usually a 10 digit code of numbers and letters, but you only need to worry about the first three. The first number is the last number in the year (8 means 2008, 7 means 2007, etc) and the next two numbers stand for the week of the year (so, a number like 804 would be the fourth week of 2008: February 2008)
For Hershey’s candy, there’s a 2 character code for the month and year. The year is like the other code, with the number being the last number in the year, the second character is a letter that represents the month. A = January, B = February, and so on. So a code like 9A would mean that the candy expires January of 2009.
Stale candy isn’t really “expired” in the sense that milk and other perishable goods “expire.” In this case, the candy is merely stale and isn’t as tasty as it should be. Still, why buy old candy?
Here’s more info from Hershey.
(Photo:Zengrrl)
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Thanks to all for the gastronomic straight dope.
Rules to live by:
Beer from Canada
Chocolate from Switzerland
Cars from Japan
Everything else from the US
Assuming you have the means.
@SpenceMan01: Wonderful. This Easter bag of M&Ms I’ve got here expired in February. That’s ridiculous considering Easter was in late March! (As early as it can be, save for ONE DAY).
Apparently, yes, they do make them that far in advance. Best eat these before they go bad…
Thanks for this article. Always liked M&Ms and now I know the secret to picking the right bag. So much for my belief that the holiday versions were “safe”.
Thankfully, this new bag of Mint Crisp M&Ms (“BIG NEW!” flavor) expires in 07/08.
When I was in Switzerland I had something called a Toblerone and it was much better than American Chocolate.
Cool thing is when I buy it at CVS it tastes just as good.
This may be a bad time to bring it up, but I think I also heard about Hershey lobbying to change the legal definition of Chocolate in the US so they can use different ingredients…
I’m surprised they gave you the codes, I guess it’s cause you’re a small store. When I worked at a grocery chain, they wouldn’t tell us what the numbers meant, they would instead send a rep to decide what was still fit to sell. The rep didn’t come regularly either, it was usually the result of us calling and saying “Remember that Hulk movie from 2 years ago? Well, we still have Kit-Kat’s with his face on it.”
So, with all this expired candy going to waste….how much of the $.75 I pay for a Snickers is paying for spoilage?
@thrillwill:
And I believe Toblerone is owned by Kraft.
I suppose it’s possible that the “7″ could also mean “1997″, not “2007″, right?
Stale candy should be considered “expired”.
If it gets old enough, the fat that makes the chocolate soft goes rancid.
Rancid oils are bad for you.
Yep … that “7″ candy could be a decade or two old … heh.
There’s a different code for Nestle and Farley’s & Sathers too:
[www.typetive.com]
@Greasy Thumb Guzik: Toblerone is made by Kraft Foods Schweiz AG in Switzerland and is made to Swiss standards.
Also another option for those who can’t get chocolate from Europe – Lindt is a good every-day Swiss chocolate that is available in a lot of US stores (at least, I see it everywhere here in Suburban Chicago).
This is damn near unconscionable: the expiry dates should be in regular, everyday, lay date format. “MAR 2009″ for example. “DEC 2001″ would therefore tell me “Don’t buy this bar of poison. You will probably get sick and miss work. And it won’t even be fun.”
@Buran: They’re not bad. Seriously. They’re M&Ms. They won’t suddenly turn to a gelatinous cube because they’re a little old.
I again direct you to M&Ms and other candies found in MREs. Tell me, what is the shelf life of an MRE, especially ones sitting in storage stateside? 3+ years at 80 degrees Fahrenheit is mandated. Do you really think they would put in a morale-boosting item that would die after a couple of months?
It is humorous, though, when you get one of the promotional ones in the thing. Seeing how long I kept getting tie-dye M&Ms comes quickly to mind …
@ct_price: Yes yes, we all know. Everything in Europe is better than everything in America. We’re stupid. They’re smart. We are wrong. They are right. They’re the best. We’re the wrost. They’re very good-looking. We’re not very attractive.
I know that is how to read the date on Mars candy but it is the date it was produced and should be good for about a year. Yes to the person who asked about it being made so far in advance. Mars is making Easter candy now for 2009. Most of the Halloween stuff except new items, has already been made. If the item has nuts then the product is good for just at or under a year. So…don’t buy if it starts with a 715 or less, give or take a few weeks.
They won’t turn to gel but let me tell you those peanuts will taste like crap. I look for peanut mms made 745 or higher.
If you have a Cost Plus World Market near you, they are CHOCK FULL of good European chocolate.
@jstonemo: You know, the country is actually pretty diverse. And, with a little looking, you can find some high quality chocolate made here in the U.S. The cheap stuff may be everywhere and might be blocking your view, but you can find high quality just about anything and everything made here in the U.S.
@failurate: No need to over-react, in this case (chocolate) it’s true. I’m with you on the whole European elitist attitude where some think everything is always our fault. But in this case, I hate to say it, European chocolate is in fact better. It’s not that we’re stupid or anything, they just understand how to make chocolate better. It’s milkier, with higher chocolate content and less sugar, yet even without all the sugar it tastes better. You have to get used to one thing tho – as my Swiss colleague once observed “Why do Americans think that chocolate must go crunch when you bite it?” Most Swiss chocolate is softer, and only crunches when it has nuts in it.
Also, European beer is better. {/troll
}
@failurate: Oh, and you’re fat, too.
/I keed!
I haven’t asked very many companies, but the places I have written to have been very prompt and courteous about letting me know how to decipher their codes, frequently including coupons or random swag along with their reply. It seems like it’d be trivial for someone (consumerist?) to write a ton of companies and compile a Master List Cheat Sheet of expiry codes for various products. Of course, a lot of codes aren’t expiry dates, but that sort of variable could be handled on the cheat sheet… like knowing a can of tuna has, say, a 3 year shelf life, if the code is a package date, The Sheet could explain the code, then also mention the actual expiry date. How bout it?
I ate an almond snickers once that made me sick.
@ct_price: That’s true. American chocolate is absolute crap.
@katekate:
I’m with you, fuck it. I’ve been to Europe, have tried the chocolate, think it’s great and all, but in the end it’s still a bar of fucking chocolate.
@backbroken: I actually like Sam Adams far more than any Canadian beer brand, and there are numerous smaller breweries in the States that are better then them (try anything by Stone), so I’ll take my beer from America too (as long as it’s not Anheiser-Busch, Coors, Miller, et. al.)
@akalish: Eh, a consumer preference for high sugar and milk contents doesn’t really explain the gap. Plenty of American brands offer varieties of dark chocolate — in fact, dark chocolate is the fastest growing segment in the U.S., and is soon expected to be the dominant consumer preference for many decades.
American chocolate manufacturers just don’t select the same grade of cocoa or take the same level of care with their products. Ghirardelli is a prototypical example of a “premium” American chocolatier. Its products are OK, but they’re kind of flat. They lack the subtlety and richness of many less expensive European brands.
That said, there are some mom-and-pop shops that produce nice chocolate pieces (Oh Chocolate! in Seattle comes to mind)… but even then, most of the appeal is from the structure and preparation of the candies, not the quality of the chocolate itself.
@humphrmi:
I think Switzerland sells the best chocolate. France and the Netherlands sell the best cocoa. And Belgium indisputably sells the best chocolate pieces.
baglunch – I suggested just that at lifehacker a couple of times, no one seems to think that’s very useful (or doesn’t want to go around compiling the info).
@ZekeSulastin: They do taste fine. Many things are OK past exp. date. But they should not be SELLING expired food; I picked this off the shelf in mid-March. Sorry if I implied that I wouldn’t eat them; they taste (mostly) fine.
American candy is garbage these days. Even the old standards like Snickers, Baby Ruth, Jr. Mints, Hershey bars and Butterfingers are fake tasting, too sweet, and just downright inedible. The last time I ate a Butterfinger, it gave me an immediate stomachache and I had the runs for two days. That is insane! I thought it must have been coincidence, so I waited a few months and tried it again; same result. Never again.
The people who’ve said that European chocolate tastes better aren’t being snobs, they’re just telling the truth. If you can’t tell the difference, I pity you cause you’ve probably never had real chocolate before.
Someone mentioned Lindt; I agree, it’s pretty good, but the texture is very creamy. It takes getting used to. You can buy Lindt at Target, Cost Plus, Trader Joe’s, and in a giant double bag for $20.00 at Costco during the holiday season.
[www.lindtusa.com]
Another good brand is Ritter Sport. It’s also very creamy, but they do have a couple of nutty/chocolate varieties too. You can pick up Ritter at Trader Joe’s for about $1.79 and at Target for about $1.59-$2.19 (depends on whether it’s on sale or not).
[tinyurl.com]
Trader Joe’s also sells Valrhona’s regular line:
[www.valrhona.com]
And if you want to try some truly decadent chocolates, Vosges will be right up your alley:
[tinyurl.com]
@Greasy Thumb Guzik: I used to do the same thing with chewing gum: I bought it from my local Best Buy specifically because it was so old that it was crunchy. But once you started chewing, it turned soft.
@bdsakx:
That happened to me! I bought a candy bar & the wrapper felt weird and when I opened it, it just looked weird. So I started reading the fine print for a contest advertised on the wrapper. The contest ended in December of 1995. This happened in 2001!
I can only assume that it fell behind something in the storage room and the owners just threw it back on the shelf when they found it.
?? I’m looking at a Cadbury fruit and nut bar I bought at Conway and it’s got a code on it of 8L.
I understand the 8 but not the L.
*sigh* Who am I kidding? I’m going to eat it anyway.
@Balisong: “Thanks so much for sending this in, Leo! I’m printing this out and sticking it in my wallet – hopefully it’ll help prevent the horror that is old Reese cups >_<”
There’s no such thing as an old Reese Peanut Butter Cup… what terrible, irrational person would leave one festering on a store shelf that long? Seriously, I don’t know how store employees stop themselves from just scarfing them by the armload every day…
@Maulleigh: 8 is the year of expiration and L is the month (each month is a letter … there are 12 months so L is December).
You’re just fine! (Cadbury is made by Hershey’s in the US.)
You can also buy 70% cacao dark chocolate, Moser-Roth, at Aldi for $1.49 for 125 grams [4.41 oz.]
It’s made in Germany & is at the registers, not in the candy section.
It has an open dated expiration date.
Dunno if it qualifies, but in Canada, at the local Thrifty’s supermarket, you can buy bricks of Bernard Callebout chocolate (milk, dark, even nonsweetened) of arbitrary size from the bakery. They get them in these massive Ten Commandments style blocks that probably weight 50 lbs. And it costs less than the garbage chocolate on the shelves.
Back in 2005 during an internship with a retailer, I had to dispose of expired candy. Some as old as 2002 with Shrek covering the bags. Yuck.
@Imaginary_Friend: There’s also Scharffenberger, which was recently bought by Hershey, but is still really good. It’s not too sweet. They also do factory tours in Berkeley, if you’re ever in the area.
You can get it at Trader Joe’s etc. And it’s in a Peets drink.
[www.scharffenberger.com]
Forget going to Europe. Buy online in dollars.
[www.germandeli.com]
And Aldi Chocolate is dog food.
@ZekeSulastin: oh, random trivia: M&Ms were originally developed to be used in MREs and to not melt in heat, so I’m not surprised you’re getting them there.
Yes. A lot of products use these types of date codes. This also goes for electronic components.
It can be:
040741A (04 of 07 and the rest being part of a lot code)
2C (March of 2002)
and then it can really complicated… like having to contact the manufacturers for their codes… or having to skip some numbers.
@elisa: Thanks, Elisa. I’m in Berkeley about every three months; I’ll definitely have to check them out.
I forgot to mention Guittard; they’re kinda hard to find, but their dark chocolate chips (in the yellow bag) make the absolute best chocolate chip cookies and homemade fudge. No lie!
[guittard-online.stores.yahoo.net]
Ghirardelli (60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chips) aren’t too bad either if you can’t find Guittard. You can buy Ghirardelli at most Safeways.
[www.ghirardelli.com]
At least it’s no longer expired once a decade! And I don’t care if it won’t hurt you, if it’s turned white from the “bloom” or whatever it’s called, it’s bad. It tastes like crap when it gets that way, no matter what the quality of the chocolate was.
As for the American/European debate, here’s my 2 cents:
Overall, European chocolate is higher quality, but can be lacking in sugar.
American chocolate tends to be lower quality (especially the generic brands), but is also sweeter because they use more sugar.
I’ve had some really good European chocolate and some really nasty stuff too. The same goes for American chocolate. A lot of it is personal preference. Either way, try to avoid the generic brands.
@ct_price: not all of us has the money to go to europe and “stock up” every so often.
I do loathe american chocolate. I had european chocolate once when a friend came back from a trip, and it was the first time I enjoyed chocolate.
@SkokieGuy
“In virtually all jurisdictions, it’s illegal for a merchant to sell food beyond its expiration date.”
Actually, it does not appear to be the case!! Here is what the USDA site tells us:
“Is Dating Required by Federal Law?
Except for infant formula and some baby food, product dating is not generally required by Federal regulations.[...] There is no uniform or universally accepted system used for food dating in the United States. Although dating of some foods is required by more than 20 states, there are areas of the country where much of the food supply has some type of open date and other areas where almost no food is dated.”
@HeartBurnKid: You are right….there’s PLENTY of good American beer. I just can’t get it where I live. There are 3 categories of beer in 99% of the bars in Pittsburgh:
regular (bud, miller)
light (coors light, bud light)
exotic (molson, labatt)
Yes, mass produced Canadian beer qualifies as exotic and Yeungling qualifies as a microbrew. It’s a sad state of affairs.
Hmm. Each of my individual M&Ms have the expiration date written on them in some kind of roman numeral code. Looks like they expired 1008 years ago.
Actually, the M&M Mars/Masterfoods code is *not* an expiration date but the date the candy was made. The “best by” date for most of the chocolate candies would be one year after it was made… A code starting with “804″ expires the 4th week of 2009 because it was made the 4th week of 2008. (You can confirm it’s not an expiration date if you pick up something with a contest on the wrapper and compare the code to the entry period for the contest.)
The code on Wrigley products is simply DDMMYY–”310308″ would expire on March 31, 2008.
The code on Mars wrappers is the date of manufacture, not expiration. They have a shelf life of 1 year from the code. I just called the 1-800 because according to this article, all of my stock was expired. Come to find out, it is all still fresh to eat.