No one knows what this code on fruit and vegetables means
Best before: yes, we know that one. And use by is familiar too. But besides that best-before and use-by date on products in the supermarket, we discovered another code, especially on fruit and vegetables. And honestly, almost no one knows this one. Do you know what UC C31 means?
NOS journalist Joost Schellevis shared this little gem of wisdom on X (Twitter): those strange codes on packaged fruit and vegetables, those numbers and letters that seem to have been printed on at random, actually have a meaning. They’re really only intended for the people who have to keep the supermarket fruit and vegetable section tidy, but they’re useful for pretty much everyone to know. Because that odd UC C31, or UC A35 or E40, is the so-called ‘removal code’.
Remove it
UC is short for removal code: the date on which the shelf stackers have to inspect these fruit and vegetables properly and perhaps remove them. The code that follows indicates the date. In a strange way, but still: A is Monday, B is Tuesday, and so on. The two numbers after it indicate the week number. So A35 is the Monday of week 35.
Storing
The vegetables in the packaging don’t suddenly turn green or blue once that date has been reached, obviously. So you don’t have to throw away the tomatoes, plums or lettuce immediately once you’ve reached that date, but still: give them a quick check. And if you buy fruit and vegetables that you want to keep for a little longer, this code tells you which fruit was placed on the shelf later.
Image: Albert Heijn
