What does BB mean on food?

BB means best before. It is a quality date: after it, the food is usually still safe if stored as the label says, but it may have lost some flavor or texture. BBE means best before end, usually of the month shown.

What does MFG mean on a package?

MFG, like MFD or Mfd., is the manufacturing date: the day the product was made. It is not the expiry date. If the label gives a shelf life such as 12 months from manufacture, add that period to the MFG date.

Is the lot number the expiry date?

No. The lot or batch number identifies the production run, for recalls. It is often marked LOT or L and contains letters or numbers that cannot be a date. The expiry date usually follows EXP, BB or Use by.

How do I read a Julian date code on food?

Many codes give the day of the year, from 001 for January 1 to 365 or 366, with one or two digits for the year. 24123 is commonly day 123 of 2024, which is 2 May. Formats vary, and these codes are usually production dates, not expiry dates.

What does EXP 03/2027 mean on medicine?

In most cases it means the medicine can be used until the end of March 2027. Rules can differ by country and product, and some medicines have a shorter limit after opening, so check with a pharmacist if you are unsure.

How do I know if a date is day-month-year or month-day-year?

If a number is above 12 it is not the month. A four-digit year at the start means year, month, day. Otherwise check the country of origin: the US writes month first, most other countries day first, and many Asian imports year first.

How to Read Expiration Date Codes [EXP, BB, MFG, LOT]

What the words on the label mean

The letters before a date tell you what kind of date it is. Only some of them are an expiry date.

Marking	Meaning	Is it the expiry date?
EXP, Exp., Expiry, Expires	Expiry date. Common on medicine, supplements, cosmetics and baby formula	Yes
Use by	Safety date on perishable food such as meat, fish and chilled ready meals	Yes. Do not eat it after this date, even if it looks and smells fine
BB, BBE, Best before, Best before end, Best if used by	Quality date. After it, food is usually still safe but may lose flavor or texture	No, a quality guide
Sell by	Tells the shop how long to display the product (mainly US)	No. Follow any use-by date and the storage instructions
Display until	A note for shop staff (mainly UK)	No. Look for the other date
MFG, MFD, Mfd., DOM, Manufactured on	Date the product was made	No
PKD, Packed on	Date it was packed	No
LOT, L, Batch, B.No.	Batch code, used for recalls	No
Hourglass symbol	Best-before date on cosmetics, use-by date on medical devices; the date is printed beside it	Yes
Open jar symbol with 6M, 12M	Use within that many months after opening (cosmetics)	A separate limit that starts when you open it

Some labels give only a manufacture date and a shelf life, for example “MFG 05/2026, Best before 12 months from manufacture”. Add the months yourself: that product is best before May 2027.

Is it day-month or month-day?

Packages travel, so 03/05/26 can be 3 May 2026 (most of the world), March 5, 2026 (United States) or even 26 May 2003 read year-first. These checks settle most cases:

A number above 12 cannot be a month. In 14/05/26 the 14 is the day.
The year has to make sense. An expiry date is usually within a few years of today. In 27/05/03, reading 03 as the year (2003) makes no sense on a new product, so it is year first: 3 May 2027.
Find the four-digit year. If the year is written in full, its position tells you the order. A full year at the start (2026/05/03 or 2026.05.03) almost always means year, month, day.
Look for a month in letters. 03 MAY 26, 03 MAI 26 or 03 MAG 26 cannot be misread. Watch for language variations: OCT and OKT, DEC, DEZ and DIC.
Check the country of origin. Products from the US usually use month-day-year. Imports from Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan often put the year first, sometimes with two digits (26.05.03). Europe, the UK, Latin America and most other places use day-month-year.
Two unlabeled dates? The later one is almost always the expiry or best-before date and the earlier one the production date.

Printed	Most likely meaning
14/03/2027	14 March 2027 (day first)
03/14/2027	March 14, 2027 (US, month first)
2027.03.14 or 2027-03-14	14 March 2027 (year first)
27.03.14 on an Asian import	14 March 2027 (year first, two-digit year)
03/2027 or 03/27	End of March 2027
14 MAR 27	14 March 2027

Julian date codes (day of year)

Some packages carry a number instead of a calendar date. This is often an ordinal or “Julian” date code: the day of the year, counted from 1 on January 1 to 365 (366 in a leap year) on December 31, usually with one or two digits for the year.

24123: commonly read as day 123 of 2024, which is 2 May 2024 (2024 was a leap year).
6245: often day 245 of a year ending in 6, so 2 September 2026.
123 on its own: day 123, with the year given elsewhere or implied. In the US, egg cartons graded by the USDA carry a three-digit pack date like this.

Formats vary by manufacturer: some put the year last, add a plant or line number, or mix in letters. A day-of-year code is usually a production or packing date, not an expiry date. If the package has no other date and you need to know, the manufacturer’s customer service can decode it.

To turn a day number into a date, find the month that starts just below it:

Month	Day number of the 1st (normal year)	In a leap year
January	1	1
February	32	32
March	60	61
April	91	92
May	121	122
June	152	153
July	182	183
August	213	214
September	244	245
October	274	275
November	305	306
December	335	336

Tires use a different code again: a four-digit week and year. See how to read a tire date code.

Lot number vs expiry date

The lot or batch number is usually printed right next to the date, in the same font, which is why the two get confused. The lot number identifies the production run so a recall can find it. Tell them apart like this:

A lot number is often labeled LOT, L, Batch or B, or shown with a box symbol containing the word LOT.
It often contains letters or a number that cannot be a date, such as L4A72 or 230817B.
The expiry date usually follows EXP, BB or an hourglass symbol, or is written as a recognizable date.

Keep the lot number if you report a problem with a product or check a recall notice.

Medicine expiry dates

On medicine the date is usually marked EXP and printed on the end flap of the box and on the edge of each blister strip or the bottle label, close to the batch number. It is often embossed or printed very small.

Month and year only: EXP 03/2027, EXP 2027-03 or EXP MAR 2027. In most cases this means the medicine can be used until the end of that month, but rules vary by country and product, so check with a pharmacist if it matters.
MFG or Mfg. Date next to it is the manufacture date. Many countries print both.
After opening, some medicines must be used within a shorter time than the printed date, for example eye drops, liquid antibiotics and creams. The leaflet or label states it, often as “use within 28 days of opening”. Write the opening date on the pack.

How to read medicine labels covers the rest of the label. This section is general information, not medical advice: ask a pharmacist before taking a medicine you are unsure about.

“Expiry date” in other languages

Imported products often carry the date in another language only. These are the usual label phrases:

Language	Expiry / use by	Best before	Made on / shelf life
Arabic	تاريخ الانتهاء، تاريخ الصلاحية	يفضل استهلاكه قبل	تاريخ الإنتاج (production date)
Russian	годен до, употребить до	лучше употребить до	дата изготовления; срок годности (shelf life)
Ukrainian	вжити до, придатний до	найкраще до	дата виготовлення; термін придатності (shelf life)
Spanish	fecha de caducidad (Spain), fecha de vencimiento or vence (Latin America)	consumir preferentemente antes de	fecha de elaboración, fecha de fabricación
Portuguese	consumir até, validade or VAL (Brazil)	consumir de preferência antes de	fabricação or FAB
French	à consommer jusqu’au (DLC)	à consommer de préférence avant (DDM)	date de fabrication
German	zu verbrauchen bis; verwendbar bis (medicine)	mindestens haltbar bis (MHD)	hergestellt am
Dutch	te gebruiken tot (TGT)	ten minste houdbaar tot (THT)	productiedatum
Italian	da consumarsi entro; scadenza or scad.	da consumarsi preferibilmente entro	data di produzione
Romanian	a se consuma până la; expiră, data expirării	a se consuma de preferință înainte de	data fabricației
Greek	ανάλωση έως; λήξη	ανάλωση κατά προτίμηση πριν από	ημερομηνία παραγωγής
Turkish	son kullanma tarihi (SKT); son tüketim tarihi (STT) on food	tavsiye edilen tüketim tarihi (TETT)	üretim tarihi
Bengali	মেয়াদ উত্তীর্ণের তারিখ		উৎপাদনের তারিখ; মেয়াদ (validity period)
Japanese	消費期限	賞味期限	製造日
Chinese	有效期至 (valid until)		生产日期 (production date); 保质期 (shelf life, often a period such as 12个月, 12 months)

Chinese food labels often give a production date plus a shelf life rather than an expiry date. Add the period to the production date, as with “best before 12 months from manufacture” above.

When you cannot read the digits

Many date problems are really reading problems: the code is embossed into foil, laser-etched on clear plastic or printed in faint gray dots. Light from a low angle and a zoomed photo usually solve it. Expiry date too faded or tiny to read shows where dates are printed on each kind of package and how to light them with a phone.