Japanese food "best before" codes

score:11

Accepted answer

Boring explanation: They're lot numbers (ロット番号), not expiration dates, referring to a batch of product made at the factory. So if you call them up and say "hey, there's wombats in my tofu", they can recall the lot in question.

As a consumer, you can't match a lot number to the expiration date (賞味期限), which you should find printed somewhere else on the packet. In your images I'd expect it to be printed in the same place, since all those spots are labeled "expiration date", but either the printer malfunctioned or it's printed elsewhere for some reason.

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