Date Marking Food:
Keep Food Safe to Eat
Proper date marking is necessary to maintain food safety and prevent foodborne illness. These simple rules will help you know how long food can be kept and when it should be thrown away.
Mixing Ingredients with Different Dates
Rule: When combining foods with different preparation dates, use the date of the oldest ingredient.
This ensures that no part of the dish exceeds its safe storage time. Always check labels before mixing and document the final date clearly.
Freezing and Thawing
Rule: Freezing pauses the seven-day clock but does not reset it.
To maintain accurate tracking:
Label containers with the preparation date
Add the freezing date
Include the thawing date
After thawing, resume counting from where you left off. For example, if the food was frozen on day 3, you have 4 days left after thawing.
Reheating Food
Rule: Reheating food does not restart the 7-day countdown.
Once cooked, food must be date-marked, used, or thrown away within 7 days. Even if you reheat it, the original 7-day limit still applies. You can reheat foods as many times as needed during the 7 days if they are reheated to 165 degrees, cooled properly, and stored at the correct temperature.
Cooling Tip: If food isn’t cooling fast enough, you can reheat it and start the cooling process over. But remember—this only helps with cooling. It does not give you more time to keep the food.
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It depends. Soft cheese must be date-marked. Hard and semi-soft cheese do not need to be date-marked.
See graphics below.
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Date marking applies to deli meats once the original package is opened.
Exceptions: shelf-stable, fermented, or salt-cured deli meats do not need a date mark
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Basturma
Breasaola
Coppa/Capocollo
Pepperoni*
Prosciutto
Country-cured ham
Parma ham
Dry salami*
*must not be labeled ‘keep refrigerated’
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The following foods are not required to be date-marked:
Unopened commercial packages
Commercially made dressings, mayo, and deli salads
Whole uncut produce
Cultured dairy (yogurt, sour cream)
Raw animal products
Shellstock and preserved fish
Helpful Tips:
Always label food with clear dates.
Use approved food-safe labels and markers.
Train staff regularly on date marking procedures.
Check food often to make sure it’s still safe.