Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Canola, Corn, Soybean, and/or Sunflower Oil), Maltodextrin (made from Corn), Salt, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Artificial Color (Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 6), Onion Powder, Whey, Corn Syrup Solids, Buttermilk, Romano Cheese (Part-Skim Cow's Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Whey Protein Concentrate, Garlic Powder, Natural Flavors, Sodium Caseinate, Sodium Diacetate
Food Dates Explained for Our buyers.
This information comes from the USDA (Food Safety and Inspection
Service) website.
Does Federal Law Require Food Product Dating?
Except
for infant formula, product dating is not required by Federal regulations.[1]
Are Dates for Food
Safety or Food Quality?
Manufacturers provide
dating to help consumers and retailers decide when food is of best quality.
Except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product’s safety
and are not required by Federal law.
What Date-Labeling
Phrases are Used?
There are no uniform or
universally accepted descriptions used on food labels for open dating in the
United States. As a result, there are a wide variety of phrases used on
labels to describe quality dates.
Examples
of commonly used phrases:
· "Best if
Used By/Before" date indicates when a product will be
of best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
· "Sell-By" date
tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory
management. It is not a safety date.
· “Use-By" date
is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality.
It is not a safety date except for when used on infant formula as described
below.
· “Freeze-By” date
indicates when a product should be frozen to maintain peak quality. It is not a
purchase or safety date.
What Date-Labeling Phrase Does FSIS Recommend?
USDA estimates that 30 percent
of the food supply is lost or wasted at the retail and consumer
levels.[3] One source of food waste arises from consumers or retailers
throwing away wholesome food because of confusion about the meaning of dates
displayed on the label. To reduce consumer confusion and wasted food, FSIS
recommends that food manufacturers and retailers that apply product dating use
a “Best if Used By” date. Research shows that this phrase conveys to consumers
that the product will be of best quality if used by the calendar date shown.
Foods not exhibiting signs of spoilage should be wholesome and may be sold,
purchased, donated and consumed beyond the labeled "Best if Used By"
date.
If you’d like to check on any
product recalled go to:
fsis.usda.gov/recalls
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