> you can mistake it for the expiration date You can't. There is either one date, and then it's the production date (because it's required), or there are two d

> you can mistake it for the expiration date You can't. There is either one date, and then it's the production date (because it's required), or there are two dates, right next to each other, in which case the later one is the expiration date, and so the shelf life is written somewhere else on the packaging. For instance. Packaged juice has 1 year shelf life. Pasta has it in the range from 1 to 2 years. Sausages have 1 to 3 months, depending on the exact kind. Some sweet milk deserts have one week. Is this just a fancy fact, or does it give you a hint that if something can survive for 2 years, it may as well be good for 2 years and 2 months while something that has shelf-life of a week probably won't survive for 2 weeks? I think it's the latter, but YMMV of course.