Monday, November 30, 2015

5BT182 1121 OR 5BT 397 1321

Having been harassed for years about all of the expired food in my pantry and refrigerator, I have developed a phobia around having expired food even near my house, when my kids visit.  I usually throw out anything that is even proximal to expiration, so as to avoid the phobia that my kids have developed around eating food at my house.  I guess they have a fear of dying from unnecessary and preventable food poisoning.  That means that they investigate every consumable item before ingesting it.  

My preparation for Thanksgiving at my house includes a thorough inspection of all edibles.  I want to make sure every digestible will be kid approved.  The scrutiny was pretty easy this year until I came to the bottled tea.   I searched and searched for an expiration date, but could only find a cryptic code in a very hard to read weird font, that was printed white on light tan.  Could this be the expiration code?

Now I know that the next thing that I did sounds like I have too much time on my hands, and I want to protest loudly at this point that I do not!  I guess I could have just thrown the bottles out, but I'm on a Jason instigated budget (more about that at some other time) and I just couldn't waste the money.  So, I did the only thing that I could think of, I wrote to the tea company, asking them about their code.  Here is their response.

Every bottle of Tejava Premium Iced Tea always includes a date code which indicates the date and time the Tea was bottled. The production code is located on the label above the ingredients and sometimes stamped on the neck of the bottle itself. On the 18oz. plastic bottles the code can be found on the tamper band below the cap. For example, our code:
                         5BT 093 1512                       
indicates that the bottle was filled on April 3rd, 2015 at 3:12 pm. The first number represents the year - 2015.  All bottling in 2016 will start with a 6 (2014= 4). The second set of numbers represents a Julian calendar date, which is the 93rd day of the year – April 3rd. A letter and number represent the batch and the last set of numbers represents the time of production using a 24 hour clock – 3:12 pm.
We believe that our Tejava Premium Iced Tea tastes best within two years of bottling. Therefore, Tejava bottled on April 3, 2015, would not "expire" until April 3, in the year 2017. Tejava bottled in PET plastic has a shelf life up to 18 months.

Hmmmm...guess I have enough information, if I could only read the code, so I could decipher it.  Gregory says it is 5BT 182 1121, and I thought that I could read 5BT 397 1321. Of course, my guess is instantly recognizable as incorrect, as anyone knows that the Julian calendar only has 365 days.    If Gregory is correct, we have until 1:21pm on July 1, 2017.  Well, it is not expired and it is safe to drink.  As Staples used to say, "That was easy." 

Tea anyone?  Sigh...I put the tea out and no one drank it.



JULIAN DATE CALENDAR PERPETUAL
Day
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Day
1
001
032
060
091
121
152
182
213
244
274
305
335
1
2
002
033
061
092
122
153
183
214
245
275
306
336
2
3
003
034
062
093
123
154
184
215
246
276
307
337
3
4
004
035
063
094
124
155
185
216
247
277
308
338
4
5
005
036
064
095
125
156
186
217
248
278
309
339
5
6
006
037
065
096
126
157
187
218
249
279
310
340
6
7
007
038
066
097
127
158
188
219
250
280
311
341
7
8
008
039
067
098
128
159
189
220
251
281
312
342
8
9
009
040
068
099
129
160
190
221
252
282
313
343
9
10
010
041
069
100
130
161
191
222
253
283
314
344
10
11
011
042
070
101
131
162
192
223
254
284
315
345
11
12
012
043
071
102
132
163
193
224
255
285
316
346
12
13
013
044
072
103
133
164
194
225
256
286
317
347
13
14
014
045
073
104
134
165
195
226
257
287
318
348
14
15
015
046
074
105
135
166
196
227
258
288
319
349
15
16
016
047
075
106
136
167
197
228
259
289
320
350
16
17
017
048
076
107
137
168
198
229
260
290
321
351
17
18
018
049
077
108
138
169
199
230
261
291
322
352
18
19
019
050
078
109
139
170
200
231
262
292
323
353
19
20
020
051
079
110
140
171
201
232
263
293
324
354
20
21
021
052
080
111
141
172
202
233
264
294
325
355
21
22
022
053
081
112
142
173
203
234
265
295
326
356
22
23
023
054
082
113
143
174
204
235
266
296
327
357
23
24
024
055
083
114
144
175
205
236
267
297
328
358
24
25
025
056
084
115
145
176
206
237
268
298
329
359
25
26
026
057
085
116
146
177
207
238
269
299
330
360
26
27
027
058
086
117
147
178
208
239
270
300
331
361
27
28
028
059
087
118
148
179
209
240
271
301
332
362
28
29
029
088
119
149
180
210
241
272
302
333
363
29
30
030
089
120
150
181
211
242
273
303
334
364
30
31
031
090
151
212
243
304
365
31
FOR LEAP YEAR USE REVERSE SIDE

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