Yet another 'can I eat this' question, starring foreign expiry dates

January 18, 2018 9:21 PM

I have some ladyfingers I bought a few months ago. The package has a 'best before' date I can't decipher: L.FEE07JN7, and, on a separate line, 0715826. I would guess that indicates an expiry date of 7 June 2007, but again I bought these a few months ago. Maybe this isn't actually a best before date (despite being labeled as such)? Or maybe it just follows an Italian convention I'm unfamiliar with? Can I eat this?
posted by perplexion to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

My guess is that the "07" is the date, and the "7" is the last digit of the year--no need to have more than one digit since nobody would keep them for 10+ years. Hence 07-Jun-2017.
posted by equalpants at 9:25 PM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

I don’t know about Italian best-before dates, but I wouldn’t let it bother me regardless. They’re basically cookies, not, like, chicken. I’d open them and eat them as long as they tasted good. :)
posted by Salamander at 11:09 PM on January 18, 2018 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I agree with equalpants. There is no convention here in Italy that either of these corresponds with. The second line, in my view, cannot be parsed as a date in any way. Many Italian products, either selling a lot abroad or wanting to give that impression, use English-style abbreviations which Italians will be fairly familiar with, so yes: 07 June 2017.
posted by aqsakal at 11:09 PM on January 18, 2018

I am always firmly in the camp of "don't eat," but I'd say just give them a try. You only bought them a few months ago. The worst thing that happens is that they're stale.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:32 PM on January 18, 2018

Given the timeline and long shelf life of the food, this seems like a production date rather than an expiration date.
posted by FallowKing at 2:52 AM on January 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

Lady fingers are far too dry to rot, as long as they don't get wet they should be safe to eat pretty much indefinitely. "Best before" dates would only indicate when they might start tasting stale, you still wouldn't get sick.
posted by Diablevert at 4:28 AM on January 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

no need to have more than one digit since nobody would keep them for 10+ years.

This is a manufacturer's assumption which I'm not fond of. I've had yogurt in the fridge which only had a month and a day printed, and had to ask myself which year the yogurt might've been from.
posted by clawsoon at 4:43 AM on January 19, 2018 [6 favorites]

I've had yogurt in the fridge which only had a month and a day printed, and had to ask myself which year the yogurt might've been from.

Plus, it robs people in shared-housing situations of the curiously delightful chance to try to pinpoint which roommate was the guilty party when you unearth a yoghurt cup from 2008 from the back of the communal fridge.
posted by DSime at 7:42 AM on January 19, 2018 [5 favorites]

The word for June in Italian is giugno. There aren't any months that start with J.

Regardless, you only bought them a couple of months ago. Worst case scenario is that they may be a little stale.
posted by desuetude at 7:50 AM on January 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Seems the consensus is last June, then- I'm a little miffed because I bought these well after June, but I guess I'll take it as a lesson to check best by dates before buying! Thanks, everyone.
posted by perplexion at 11:32 AM on January 19, 2018

Why June? Why not January?
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 2:56 PM on January 19, 2018

Response by poster: I'm guessing January would be JA. Wiktionary also has JN as June.
posted by perplexion at 5:23 PM on January 19, 2018