You open the refrigerator, reach for a carton of eggs and pause.<\/p>\n
Across the package are several numbers and phrases that seem straightforward at first glance. There may be a \u201cBest By\u201d date, a code beginning with the letter \u201cP,\u201d and somewhere nearby, a strange three-digit number that looks more like a tracking code than a date.<\/p>\n
For many shoppers, those markings are easy to interpret as expiration warnings.<\/p>\n
But they are not all telling you the same thing.<\/p>\n
In fact, one of the most useful numbers printed on many egg cartons is one that consumers often overlook entirely.<\/p>\n
That three-digit number can tell you exactly when the eggs were packed.<\/p>\n
And once you understand how the system works, reading an egg carton becomes much easier.<\/p>\n
On many egg cartons in the United States, a three-digit number represents the\u00a0pack date<\/strong>\u2014the day of the year when the eggs were processed and placed into the carton.<\/p>\n The system uses numbers from\u00a0001 through 365<\/strong>, with 001 representing January 1 and 365 representing December 31 in a non-leap year.<\/p>\n So, for example, a carton marked\u00a0032<\/strong>\u00a0indicates that the eggs were packed on February 1.<\/p>\n A code such as\u00a0198<\/strong>\u00a0corresponds to July 17 in a non-leap year.<\/p>\n At first glance, the numbers may look meaningless. But once you know the system, they provide a useful way to determine how recently the eggs were packed.<\/p>\n This can be particularly helpful when you have two cartons in your refrigerator and want to know which one was packed first.<\/p>\n Instead of relying solely on the larger printed date, you can compare the pack codes and get a clearer picture of the eggs\u2019 age.<\/p>\n But there is an important distinction shoppers need to remember.<\/p>\n The pack date is not the same thing as an expiration date.<\/strong><\/p>\n That difference matters.<\/p>\n The other unfamiliar marking commonly found on egg cartons can also provide useful information.<\/p>\n A code beginning with the letter\u00a0\u201cP\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0generally identifies the processing or grading plant where the eggs were handled.<\/p>\n In other words, that code is primarily about where the eggs were processed\u2014not about how long they will remain safe to eat.<\/p>\n Then there are the dates consumers see most often.<\/p>\n You may encounter phrases such as\u00a0\u201cSell By,\u201d \u201cBest By,\u201d or \u201cBest Before.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Although they may look similar, these labels can serve different purposes.<\/p>\n A \u201cSell By\u201d date is largely intended to help retailers manage inventory and determine how long a product should remain available for sale.<\/p>\n A \u201cBest By\u201d or \u201cBest Before\u201d date is generally more closely associated with expected quality.<\/p>\n That means the date printed on the carton does not necessarily represent the precise moment when an egg suddenly becomes unsafe.<\/p>\n Food does not work like a light switch.<\/p>\n An egg does not magically transform from safe to dangerous at midnight on the date printed on the package.<\/p>\n Instead, freshness, storage conditions, handling and time all play a role.<\/p>\n Understanding the numbers on the carton is helpful, but proper storage is ultimately much more important.<\/p>\n According to USDA guidance, raw shell eggs generally keep for about\u00a0three to five weeks<\/strong>\u00a0when they are properly refrigerated at\u00a040\u00b0F (4\u00b0C) or below<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That is why where you keep your eggs inside the refrigerator can matter.<\/p>\n Keeping them in their original carton on an interior refrigerator shelf helps protect the eggs from temperature fluctuations and physical damage.<\/p>\n The original carton also keeps the eggs organized and helps prevent them from absorbing odors from other foods.<\/p>\n One common mistake is treating the refrigerator door as the best place for eggs simply because many refrigerators have built-in egg holders there.<\/p>\n The door is exposed to repeated temperature changes every time the refrigerator is opened.<\/p>\n An interior shelf generally provides more consistent cold temperatures.<\/p>\n And that consistency is important.<\/p>\n There is another popular trick many people use when they are unsure about an older egg: the water-float test.<\/p>\n The basic idea is simple.<\/p>\n As an egg ages, the air cell inside it becomes larger. That can cause the egg to float when placed in water.<\/p>\n The test can therefore give you some indication of an egg\u2019s age or freshness.<\/p>\n But there is a crucial limitation.<\/p>\n The float test cannot tell you whether an egg is contaminated with harmful bacteria.<\/strong><\/p>\n An egg that sinks is not automatically guaranteed to be safe, and an egg that floats is not automatically dangerous.<\/p>\n The test tells you something about the egg\u2019s age\u2014not whether it contains bacteria such as\u00a0Salmonella<\/em>.<\/p>\n That distinction is easy to overlook.<\/p>\n A carton code is information.<\/p>\n A float test is information.<\/p>\n Neither one is a guarantee of food safety.<\/p>\n Ultimately, safe handling and proper cooking practices are far more important than relying on a single clue.<\/p>\n The condition of the shell is another important factor.<\/p>\n Eggs with cracked shells can provide bacteria with an easier route into the egg, which is why cracked or heavily contaminated eggs should be treated cautiously.<\/p>\n If an egg is badly cracked, dirty or otherwise appears compromised, throwing it away is often the safer choice.<\/p>\n And remember that the risk does not end when the egg leaves the carton.<\/p>\n Raw eggs can spread bacteria to hands, utensils, countertops and other foods.<\/p>\n That makes basic kitchen hygiene extremely important.<\/p>\n Wash your hands after handling raw eggs, and clean utensils and surfaces that come into contact with them.<\/p>\n Preventing cross-contamination can be just as important as checking the carton date.<\/p>\n How you cook eggs matters, too.<\/p>\n FDA guidance recommends cooking eggs until\u00a0both the whites and yolks are firm<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That applies whether you are frying, scrambling, baking or preparing eggs as part of another dish.<\/p>\n Once eggs have been cooked, storage becomes the next consideration.<\/p>\n Cooked egg dishes generally keep for about\u00a0three to four days in the refrigerator<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Hard-cooked eggs can usually be refrigerated for about\u00a0one week<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The same basic principle applies: keep them properly refrigerated and avoid leaving them at unsafe temperatures for extended periods.<\/p>\n Food safety is not determined by one number printed on a package.<\/p>\n It is a combination of time, temperature, handling, storage and preparation.<\/p>\n The next time you are standing in the grocery store comparing two cartons of eggs, those mysterious markings do not have to be confusing.<\/p>\n The\u00a0three-digit number<\/strong>\u00a0can tell you the pack date.<\/p>\n The\u00a0\u201cP\u201d code<\/strong>\u00a0generally identifies the processing or grading plant.<\/p>\n A\u00a0\u201cSell By\u201d date<\/strong>\u00a0is primarily useful for retailers managing inventory.<\/p>\n A\u00a0\u201cBest By\u201d or \u201cBest Before\u201d date<\/strong>\u00a0generally relates more closely to expected quality.<\/p>\n And none of those markings should be viewed in isolation from proper refrigeration and safe food handling.<\/p>\n The pack date can be particularly useful when comparing the freshness of different cartons.<\/p>\n For example, if one carton carries a lower day-of-year number than another, it was packed earlier. That can help you decide which carton to use first.<\/p>\n But once the eggs are home, proper storage becomes the priority.<\/p>\n Keep them cold.<\/p>\n Keep them in their original carton.<\/p>\n Handle them carefully.<\/p>\n Avoid cracked shells.<\/p>\n And cook them properly.<\/p>\n There is no reason to panic simply because an egg carton has reached one of the dates printed on it.<\/p>\n The important thing is understanding what that particular marking actually means.<\/p>\n A printed date is not necessarily an expiration date.<\/p>\n A three-digit code is not a random string of numbers.<\/p>\n And a floating egg is not a scientific guarantee that the contents are unsafe\u2014or safe.<\/p>\n The numbers on an egg carton are there to provide information, but consumers still have to consider the bigger picture.<\/p>\n How old are the eggs?<\/p>\n How have they been stored?<\/p>\n Have they remained consistently refrigerated?<\/p>\n Is the shell intact?<\/p>\n Have they been handled safely?<\/p>\n And have they been cooked properly?<\/p>\n Those questions tell you far more about how to treat your eggs than simply staring at one date.<\/p>\n Once you know how to read the codes, that small carton sitting in your refrigerator suddenly becomes much easier to understand.<\/p>\n What once looked like a confusing collection of numbers and letters can actually tell you where the eggs came from, when they were packed and how to better organize them at home.<\/p>\n The key is simply knowing what you are looking at.<\/p>\n So the next time you reach for a carton and see a mysterious three-digit number, don\u2019t immediately assume it is an expiration date.<\/p>\n It may be telling you something much more specific:\u00a0the day those eggs were packed.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You open the refrigerator, reach for a carton of eggs and pause. Across the package are several numbers and phrases that seem straightforward at first glance. There may be a … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-4375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-breaking-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4377,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions\/4377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Does the \u201cP\u201d Code Mean?<\/h2>\n
The Refrigerator Matters More Than Many People Realize<\/h2>\n
Freshness and Safety Are Not the Same Thing<\/h2>\n
What Should You Do With Cracked Eggs?<\/h2>\n
Cooking Eggs Properly Is Another Key Step<\/h2>\n
So What Should You Actually Look For on the Carton?<\/h2>\n
The Bottom Line<\/h2>\n