Concord Freshness Codes

[Quarter Master]

I've been in touch with Tootsie Roll Co. concerning how to read product manufacture dates on their packageing to find out just how fresh the products are that I'm buying from different places.This is their date coding system:

Example code date:  J138

           J                   13                      8

      Month            Day of month        Year

Reads-October 13,2008

A. First letter specifies month of production(A=Jan. L=Dec.)

B. Two numbers specify day of month(01=1st. 31=31st.)

C. One number (last digit of year) specifies year(7=2007,8=2008,9=2009)

Any remaining numbers to the right of year indicate shift and machine production.Tootsie Roll products have a shelf life of 12 to 24 months depending on product.

I hope this helps determine whether you are in fact getting fresh Concord/Tootsie Roll products.

[Jax Snacks]

Concord AND freshness in the same sentence. Wow, what a concept! Ever since Tootsie Roll took over Concord, the gum somehow changed for the worse. The 12 to 24 month shelf life is pure corporate propaganda! It's only matter of time until someones posts complaints about stale and cracked gumballs from Sam. This new batch will age quickly since their storage and shipping procedures have most likely not changed a bit.

Sorry to be so blunt, but I will NEVER buy that product again!

Jax

[seemore1]

I just bought a case from my local dist. and they had a code of d228.

Why are they so stale if they were made and the end of december?

[tedk]

According to the code that is April production not December. It is over a year old.

Ted

[shvend]

Islander, thanks for the information. That will come in handy when determining which products to buy.

[Quarter Master]

I really wasn't trying to promote any particular brand or company.It's just some info I came across to help determine what we are paying for.With members,such as myself,buying from Sam's and other different places,I thought it would be a good idea to learn how to decipher these manufacturing codes on the boxes to insure we are getting the fresh as possible product.If anyone else comes across info from other sources (such as Double Bubble,Oak Leaf,etc.)please let everyone know.

[Jax Snacks]

Islander, No problem and thanks for that info. As you can see, I get worked up over this Concord gum. Just too many problems over the years and they also had many many chances to fix them.

Jax