Now that you are a "Seasoned Citizen", be sure to add some Spice to your Life with this great information from Durkee

How can I tell how old a spice product is?

To determine the year and month when a spice was packaged, look for a series of black numbers and letters printed on the bottom or side or the spice container. This is not the UPC code and it is usually printed directly on the container, not the label.

On dry packet mixes, the numbers and letters are pressed or indented into the edge of the package. The first number indicates the year of the decade.

For example, if the first number is 8, this means the product was packaged in 1998. The second letter refers to the month. "A" stands for January, "B" stands for February, "C" is for March, and so on.

So, if an item was packaged in March of 1999, the code would begin with 9C. (Other numbers and letters will follow, but the first two digits indicate when the product was packaged).

What is the shelf life of most spices?

While dry spices don't necessary spoil, we recommend for optimum flavor that they be used within 2 years of packaging.

The recommended shelf life of some of our other products are as follows:

• Pure and Imitation Extracts 2 years
• Dromedary Box Mixes 1 year
• Durkee Lemon Pie Filling 18 months
• Durkee Coconut 1 year
• Famous Sauce 1 year
• Dec A Cake icings and gels 1 year
• Dec A Cake sprinkles 2 years
• Durkee or French's Sauce and Gravy dry mixes 18 months
• Tone's Soup Base 6 months (after opening).