My daughter, who is on school vacation this week, and I, who am on permanent vacation until I find another job, were given the unenviable task of cleaning out some of the many shelves in our pantry (I think after a couple of hours, she'd rather be back in school). We spent probably a total of six hours pulling stuff down, checking it out, and either putting it back or tossing it.Some of the "stuff" was easy - cans with bulging ends and once-powdered things that had turned into cement-like solids. There was even a bottle of bleu cheese dressing, the contents of which had turned totally brown (kind of like chameleons do except they do it quickly - this bottle took many years to try to blend in).
The problem we had came with the products that we didn't know what the shelf life was; I mean, I know salt doesn't go bad (even if it took a phone call to confirm it), but things like canned vegetables without bulging ends; what about those?
I applaud the companies who put things like: Best Until June 14, 1995 (we had a couple of those; I mean, if it were June 15th in 1995, I'd probably still use it - heck June 15th in 2008 would give me pause, but...). They are easy to figure out (I tried to tell my daughter they'd only been there 12-1/2 years, but she wouldn't buy my argument - she's a slave driver, she is). Other companies, however, put things like C6X12 P4. I couldn't just arbitrarily toss the product - I could still read the label, so I called a few of the companies to see if they sold a decoder ring or special chart so I could figure out what the letters and numbers meant. After a couple such calls, I felt like a real idiot! I didn't even know the first letter often stands for the month - A for January, B for February, and so forth except for September which is X (I suppose an 'I' might be mistaken for a '1' even if it were in the first position). The number after the letter could stand for the year - 3 is 2003 (but in our case, it could have been 1993) and so on.
So, what's my point? Why can't "they" just put ExpOCT2003 or MFGJAN2009? Really! Is that too easy or what? Well, why can't "they"? If I do run for office again, that is one of the things I will push for - clear labeling of expiration dates. I mean, that ought to get me some votes... well, oughtn't it?
