String cheese tracking?

September 20, 2013 1:50 PM

Why are individual string cheese packages inside a larger multi-pack numbered? I've seen it in several different brands, but most recently noted on Trader Joes brand string cheese. It appears as a teeny number on the bottom of the back (or flat) side of the string cheese (I can post photos if necessary). I can't think of a practical reason for this- I don't distribute the cheeses in order (unless I'm really paying attention), so it doesn't really help me keep track of them any better than a glance at how many I have left would. So, what am I missing?
posted by LyndsayMW to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Best answer: Just guessing, but it's probably for tracking purposes. If the cheese packaging machine lays them out, let's say six at a time for packaging, and QA starts seeing that lots of number 4s are coming out mangled or with weird oil on them, they can look at that part of the machine or line for possible problems.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 1:57 PM on September 20, 2013

Best answer: Quality control. If the QA team at the packager (or multiple consumers) report repeated malfunctions of slip #4, that means the whosit on the whatnot that makes slip #4 is malfunctioning.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:57 PM on September 20, 2013

Best answer: Just spitballing here but maybe the cheese extruders run parallell to each other, say extruders 1-6 and if there is a problem with one then they can figure out which one is bad.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 1:58 PM on September 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Definitely QA. They assign a lot number to the larger bag and then each individually wrapped cheese has its own sub number. Thins is then used for an type of product recall due to whatever (ecoli for example) or product complaints. Who the hell would complain about cheese!? well, if someone were to get sick and go to their doctor, depending on the disease, their doctor is required to report to public health departments, and this might be part of the "case". It's mandated by the USDA, FDA and 'gubment.
posted by floweredfish at 2:06 PM on September 20, 2013

Best answer: You don't need to know what the numbers mean. The company has a way of tracking each of those numbers, and if there's ever a problem, all an investigator needs to do is get the numbers from consumers directly. The numbers in each bag don't even need to be consecutive. The numbers on the individual packages will contain enough information to enable investigators to identify problems.
posted by valkyryn at 2:19 PM on September 20, 2013 [2 favorites]