What Are Those Cryptic Codes on Beauty Products?
The reason for this annoying omission simple: The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t require it. So any company that opts to include this information, and there are a few, such as Clearasil and Neutrogena, does so from the goodness of its heart. That said, most products do have some sort of batch or lot number with a date of manufacture embedded in it. You’ll find these codes embossed along the grooved edge of the tube, or printed on the bottom of bottles, or on the box.
But deciphering what these seemingly random sequences is another story. Some brands use codes consisting of a letter (A is for January, B is February…) and two letters to denote the date. So D13 equals April 2013. But beware: Things get kind of funky in this coding system since, for some reason, the letters that represent the months are not strictly sequential. For example, F often means May, H is for June, K is July, M is August, R is September, T is October, V is November, and X is December.
Other companies have batch numbers with 6 or 7 digits. In this coding system, the first three numbers often denote the day of the year (so 005 is January 5 and 361 is December 27) and the next two numbers are for the year (13 or 14 for 2013 and 2014). The rest of the numbers in the code may indicate a batch number, or the particular factory where the product was manufactured.
We contacted several major brands to ask for more details about their product codes, and most promised to look into for us. We’ll keep you posted. But in the meantime, you better get out that Sharpie and start making your own expiration dates.
But deciphering what these seemingly random sequences is another story. Some brands use codes consisting of a letter (A is for January, B is February…) and two letters to denote the date. So D13 equals April 2013. But beware: Things get kind of funky in this coding system since, for some reason, the letters that represent the months are not strictly sequential. For example, F often means May, H is for June, K is July, M is August, R is September, T is October, V is November, and X is December.
Other companies have batch numbers with 6 or 7 digits. In this coding system, the first three numbers often denote the day of the year (so 005 is January 5 and 361 is December 27) and the next two numbers are for the year (13 or 14 for 2013 and 2014). The rest of the numbers in the code may indicate a batch number, or the particular factory where the product was manufactured.
We contacted several major brands to ask for more details about their product codes, and most promised to look into for us. We’ll keep you posted. But in the meantime, you better get out that Sharpie and start making your own expiration dates.
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