Reading Date Codes

Lundberg Family Farms® uses two basic Code Dating formats: Julian Dating System and the Best Before Date. We offer this guide as a key to understanding our Code Dating Systems. All Lundberg Family Farms products will have a Standard Day Code applied to the outer cases and packages.

Julian Dating System

This is a production dating system that reads from left to right and is formatted as 01501 (January 15, 2001). The first three right-hand digits "015" is day 15 of the year. The following two digits "01" is the year. Therefore, this product was produced on January 15, 2001.

There are two basic formats:

Time-Day-Year

Example: 22:5306301. "01" is the year, "063" is the day of the year, and "22:53" is military time (24 hr clock) = 10:53 PM. Production date is March 4, 2001 at 10:53 PM.

Day-Year-Shift

Example: 06301B. "B" is the 2nd shift (ex: 4:30PM to l: 00AM), "01" is the year, and "063" is the day of the year. Production date is March 4, 2001 on the "B" shift.

View the Julian Calendar 

Best Before Date

The Best Before date is the first code printed in the series of codes and is formatted as 01JAN07 (January 01, 2007). The following is a list of products' shelf life which have the "Best Before" date.

    • Brown rice(raw) products have a Best Before date of:  12 months
    • White rice (raw) products have a Best Before date of:  12 months
    • Risottos have a Best Before date of: 12 months
    • Brown Rice Couscous has a Best Before date of: 8 months
    • Heat & Eat Rice Bowls have a Best Before date of:  12 months
    • Rice Chips have a Best Before date of:  10 months
    • Brown Rice Syrup has a Best Before date of:   18 months
    • Rice Cakes have a Best Before date of:  12 months
    • Rice Cereal has a Best Before date of :  12 months
    • Brown Rice Pastas have a Best Before date of:  24 months
    • Brown rice Flour has a Best Before date of: 12 months

Proper Rice Storage

Rice should be stored in a cool dry place - below 55 degrees is recommended. At this temperature, it should keep for many months. A freezer is also fine.