Don't Worry, This Kool Aid Doesn't Expire Until 01 Feb 11 02 11:48 CH
Chad, who sent this in, says he tried to decipher this Kool Aid's expiration date using the cheat sheet we posted last December, but nothing on this container matches the code format on the sheet. It can't be that hard to print an unambiguous human readable expiration date on a product. Who else needs to read the date, other than a human? Why should the average consumer have to worry about deciphering a date? We thought we'd all pretty much agreed on some basic rules for how to keep track of the days.
We checked out the Kraftfoods.com site to see if they could offer any help, and it looks like just the first part of the code is relevant—which still doesn't explain why they'd junk up a perfectly clear date with other stuff that the consumer doesn't need to know.
The Best By Date will appear as follows:
01FEB09
01 = Day of Month
FEB = Month
09 = Year of Expiration
We also emailed Kraft last week to ask them what the rest of the code means, and why it's included on the same line as the best by date. They didn't respond, probably because we didn't take the time to encode our query in robot language.
Update: Bridget at Kraft has emailed us the following response:
The code information in your email mistakenly showed "01 FEB 11 02 11:48 CH" when what's really on the canister (and in the photo on your website) is "01 FEB 11 D2 11:48 CH".
You're correct that the first seven characters are the "best used by" date of February 1, 2011. The next two characters represent the manufacturing site and line on which the product was produced; next is the exact time it came off the line; and, finally, the flavor (cherry). While I understand this information may be of little or no interest to our consumers, it's critically important to us at Kraft Foods to know exactly when and where our products are produced.
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Comments:
@Rectilinear Propagation: Sorry.
0 = Sunday
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
etc.
Or at least that's my guess.
I believe the 02 is actually a D2. It is different from the 0 in 01, and is more similar to the D in USED.
I've deciphered the message:
"Be sure to drink your Ovaltine."
I thought it was pretty obvious. I see it as February 1st 2011. Where is the confusion? And is this really that big a deal?
it's not a vendor drink so it won't have that expiration date code. and besiddes.. it's Koolaid.. does it go bad? just add more sugar you'll be fine
It doesn't really seem ambiguous to me, but that's me.
It immediately read as February 2, 2011 to me.
I hate when Consumerist has posts like this. The date is pretty clearly February 1, 2011. Who cares what the rest of it means?
@PinkBox: er, meant to say February 1st.
I need more coffee. I should have checked the expiration date on the cup I had earlier.
@UrIt:
No need to add sugar. Add Everclear. Sanitizes it if it is too old, and makes your clothes disappear.
It looks like it expires at 11:48 on Tuesday Feb 1, 2011.
But it it AM or PM? I'd hate to make the kids some refreshing kool-aid at noon only to find out it expired two minutes ago and I'm mixing up a batch of deadly poison.
the 11:48 might be a time stamp from the factory
The lack of a carriage return after the date is an obvious plot to kill polar bears and suppress voting rights.
The better question is, "Why does this expiration have a day of the month on it?" I mean, wtf happens at midnight on Feb 1, 2011?
@bigmil87: Yeah I guess I shouldn't have tagged it OH MY F***ING GOD THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!!!
Oh wait, I didn't.
I knew someone would complain about my complaint, so let me address yours and all future "what's the BFD?" comments: why can't the best by date be listed in a common format that everyone who knows how to read a date can read without confusion? Why, in this case, muck it up with additional codes that add any sort of ambiguity to it? I personally want to spend as little of my time and brain power as possible determining the expiration date of the product, because I have better things to deal with. Messy date formats like this are inefficient, and in my mind that's one of the worst offenses of product design, usability, etc.
The current code maybe helps Kraft or the manufacturer or someone else on the business side of things, but if this is intended for the end user, make it end-user-friendly.
I hate to spoil the fun, but the rest of the code "02 11:48 CH" is probably a code indicating what factory, assembly line, and time the product was produced, in case a need should arise to recall the product, they won't have to get rid of all the kool-aid that was produced on that day, just the ones on the machine/line/whatever that caused the defect.
Of course, it would be nice if they'd somehow separate that info so that it doesn't turn the whole thing into a confusing string of similar numbers, maybe move the production code to a separate line or separate it from the date with a larger space or some characters that would make it clear the date part had ended.
I was going through our "spare food" pantry in the garage and ran across an unopened bottle of Catalina salad dressing. "use before Aug 07 04D2" -- what? Oh good grief, this is FIVE YEARS OLD"
I emptied it down the drain and recycled the bottle. Ewwww...
Yeah, I think that's actually D2:
01 Feb 11 D2 11:48 CH.
I'm wondering if the D2 11:48 CH is some sort of code for the warehouse/facility it was stamped at?
If there's no other information stamped on this package, I'm fairly sure the remaining numbers provide the batch/lot details for this product.
When you call to complain there's a small, severed head in the powder, you'll need to provide them with 02 11:48 CH so they can find the rest of the snake.
Its a big deal because manufacturers ought to have one system-- 5/20/10 means it expires May 20, 2010. If they want to confuse some people, do it european-- 20/5/10.
11:48 CH = Time packaged (11:48) and where (Chicago)
D2 no idea.
Hey, we are talking about Kool Aid here. Even 'bad' Kool Aid (i.e. - expired) is still 'good' (i.e. - delicious).
I love the products that don't have expiration dates listed on them, even though afaik,wiaafait ((wiaafait = which isn't always as far as I think, for the unitiated)) that is illegal.
I swear to god, some things I buy must have the expiration date hidden by reading the nutritional facts top to bottom or something, sometimes I can't even find the little buggers.
@Rectilinear Propagation: I think maybe it's D2 -- Day Two? Because that looks like a D (like in USED).
How is 01 FEB 11 not human readable? Any average person should be assuming that anything after the standard date format is extraneous information in the first place.
@Chris Walters: You mean the fact that it clearly shows 01 February 11 as February 1st 2009 is too hard to decipher?
It's easy. 1st of February 2011. Printed at 11.48.
You shouldn't care about the rest. If you do want to know, the D2/02 is probably the packaging line or factory and CH could be anything, like a code for using sugar instead of synthetic stuff.
@y2julio: Dude. The point is that these dates should be uniform -- for every company. But they aren't. And while this one was fairly easy, most of them AREN'T.
@Sean Masters: The point was that these dates/stamps are NEVER uniform. Each product has a different stamp.
I'm guessing the reason the extra info is on the same line is because it costs X to print 2 lines and it costs X+Y to print 3 lines.
@Rectilinear Propagation: Well, that is the right day, so that very well could be it. Seems pretty redundant though.
@DaFox: Glad I'm not the only one!
Agreed, Chris. It's an expiration date, not a brain teaser. Why isn't there a standard?
If you mix it and the Kool Aid man busts through your wall wearing a dated outfit, then you know it's probably not potable.
The other, "02 11:48 CH" is a batch code, so they can track a specific batch if something turns up faulty. They start a callback on that batch rather than everything ever shipped.
I'm also failing to see the fail here, beyond the post getting this far. The date is unambiguous. The rest of it is whatever Kraft uses for processing codes -- shift numbers, factory numbers, whatever. You don't need to know them until your mom dies after having some Kool-Aid. But when she does, you'll be glad they're there.
@Mike Ziniti: People who are not complacent robots might simply be interested to know what the rest of it means. Also, because it has to do with a thing that a lot of people put into their bodies and their children's bodies, it may be, I don't know, just a little bit important to some people?
The 02 is the Day
Tuesday February 1, 2011