Rule 901:3-57-04 | Sale date; information and location.
(A) No person shall knowingly sell a perishable food product in a consumer package unless the package is clearly marked with a sale date by the packager. No other similarly stated date may appear on the package. However, nothing in this regulation shall prohibit a coded date, such as a Julian date, which may be required by federal law.
(B) The sale date markings shall be legible to the average consumer under normal conditions of purchase.
(C) The sale date may be indicated by appropriate descriptive terms such as "sell before," "sell by," etc. Terminology used to describe the sale date of a perishable food product shall be easily understood by the average consumer.
(D) Except as provided in paragraph (E) of this rule, the combination of words, numbers and/or abbreviations used to designate the sale date shall be easily understood by the average consumer. Words, numbers or abbreviations or a combination of words, numbers or abbreviations such as "Nov. 23, 11-23, November 23, etc." are acceptable.
(E) Bakery products with a sale date of less than seven days from the date of packaging may be dated with the days of the week or their abbreviations as follows:
| Day of the Week | Acceptable Abbreviations |
| Sunday | SU, SUN |
| Monday | MO, MON |
| Tuesday | TU, TUE |
| Wednesday | WE, WED |
| Thursday | TH, THU, THUR |
| Friday | FR, FRI |
| Saturday | SA, SAT |
Last updated February 6, 2024 at 9:37 AM
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