How to Sling Soda...Correctly

[xenthesodagirl]

Working my way through school by filling vending machines part-time. It can be oddly satisfying sometimes. Mostly on this site to get help with doing the job properly. Mostly looking for answers to cryptic expiration dates for some products, like Monster, Cheezits, Rice Crispy Treats...stuff like that that doesn't have a easily read date.

Thanks!

Xenthesodagirl

[Sir SnackAlot Vending]

Hi there,

 

As you have said some of the dates on the products are cryptic and make our jobs of keeping fresh stock just a little bit harder.  The trick that I have found for Cheezits and Rice Krispy treats is to look at the date on the box then look at one of the individual packages and then you learn the pattern that those two products use.  This method also works for Famous Amos cookies and another product that I have forgotten right now.  

Good luck with the monster, let me know once you find an answer.  ?

Now the pastry dates are super interesting because they use Julian dates.  Google it for more info, if you are not familiar with it.  The bad part about it on the pastries is that this just tells you the date that the product was made but not the expiration date.  Most pastries arrive frozen and have a freezer life of about two years so it doesn't normally help to figure out the date.  If you buy them from Sams they do a pretty good job of marking the expiration dates on the pastries.  Remember that you can refreeze these before the date is up and then you renew the shelf life for another couple of weeks.  I think it's  called FOA - Frozen on Arrival. 

Hopefully this helps!

[xenthesodagirl]

Thanks much! Yes, Cheezits go super fast in our machines, so the expiration date is not THAT much of an issue, but I would still like to know what it is.

As far as Monster, the code is a letter, followed by four numbers...and some other assorted crap. The letter corresponds to the month of manufacture; A is January, B is February, etc. Then the next set of two numbers is the year, the next numbers are the date. So a can that reads A1610 has a born on date of January 10th 2016. What I am finding online is that Monsters don't have expiration dates, they have born on dates. A lot of what I am gathering is that they are supposed to be good for two years from that expiration date. Someone on a different site claims that "Monster says" that they don't expire. I dunno how I feel about that; I think that the two years from the born on date is a much better guideline.