IRMIMINPIIVINI1.11111411M
NOM
,
ZIONIST ORGANIZATION
OF AMERICA
MICHIGAN REGION
PRESENTS
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger
Bursting the Demographic Bubble:
Decoding Dates
From Baseless Fatalism to Documented Demographic Optimism
Just how long can you keep
that Passover matzah?
Monday, April 20, 2009
7:00pm
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
27375 Bell Road
Southfield, Michigan
NO CHARGE!
RSVP is required by
Friday, April 17, 2009
to sarah@mizoa.org
or (248)282-0088
This program is co-sponsored by:
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Harold & Barbara Berry
Lawrence & Sharon Berry
The Morris & Beverly Baker Foundation
I
Ambassador (ret.) Ettinger is a
consultant to members of Israel's
Cabinet and Knesset, and regularly
briefs US legislators on Israel's
contribution to vital US interests,
on the root causes of international
terrorism and on other issues of
bilateral concern.
1 4994.60
ILLAGE
ALACE
WISHING OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS
A HAPPY & HEALTY PASSOVER
Johnny, Robert and Staff
4170 Orchard Lake Rd. (near Pontiac Trail)
Orchard Lake, MI 48323
(248) 682-3400
1479730
B8
April 9 a 2009
Spirituality
n the course of sorting through
unopened food items from
last Passover, some, no doubt,
checked for expiration dates before
deciding what to keep.
But those who did may be unclear
as to if and where that information is
stamped.
Most popular
kosher-for-
Passover products
are embossed
with the date,
but not always in
the typical way.
Many brands now
use the "Julian
Date Code," a
run of numbers
that incorporates
the expiration
date with other
numerical and
alphabetical information.
Most perishable foods, like meats,
poultry, eggs and dairy products, still
use "open dating;' which refers to a
calendar date.
But "coded dating" appears on many
items packaged in cans and boxes.
Julian Date Coding is used in the
food industry mainly to allow for
fewer characters to be printed on
packaging when indicating several
pieces of information.
The Julian code assigns each day of
the year a corresponding three-digit
number. So, Jan. 1, is "001" because
it is the first day of the year. Dec. 31
would be "365." Following the three-
digit number is a single number indi-
cating the year. The number "9" would
be used to indicate the year "2009."
Therefore, a product with numbers
"3659" on its package would expire on
Dec. 31, 2009.
But sometimes, it's not that simple.
Many companies also include letters
that relate to the plant where the prod-
ucts are manufactured and more let-
ters to refer to the product's name.
Manischewitz Premium Gold Gefilte
Fish might have the Julian code:
2439AVGFG, with the 243 correspond-
ing to the 243rd day of the year, the 9
indicating 2009, the "AV" referring to
the plant where the product was made
and the GFG signifying the product is
Gefilte Fish Gold.
Some manufacturers also include
additional numbers to designate the
shift or production line on which
the item was produced. On some
Manischewitz products — whose
brands include Season, Rokeach,
Goodman's, Tradition and Mother's
— a UPC number may be listed at
the end of the series of letters and
numbers.
Consumers shouldn't assume,
though, that because they have prod-
ucts left from last year they have
expired. The shelf life of Manischewitz
matzah is 2 to 21/2 years; gefilte fish is
four years and canned soups are three
years. Generally, products stay fresher
if stored in a dry, temperature-con-
trolled environment.
Some companies, like Aron Streit
— makers of a multitude of kosher
year-round and Passover products
— still use a simple date method on
their packaging.
"Our bag-in-a-box mixes have 'best
if used by' dates on the bottom of the
boxes:' said Alan M. Adler of Aron
Streit in New York. He said the compa-
ny will be using a new dating system
on their year-round matzah but the
type hasn't yet been determined.
But Streits' Passover matzah
packaging has perhaps the simplest
marking. The year the product was
manufactured is stamped in large
numbers on front of the package. It
is visible in the area where the prod-
uct name and "kosher for Passover"
wording is printed, giving no excuses
for tossing what should be put back
on the shelf.