New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 8 - HEALTH
Chapter 21 - FOOD AND DRUGS
Subchapter 10 - DESIGNATED FLUID MILK PRODUCTS
Section 8:21-10.20 - Dating of milk and fluid milk products

(a) Fluid milk products as defined in 24:10-57.1 and all types and varieties of cottage and soft cheeses designated by the Department, intended for direct sale to consumers, shall be legibly marked with a "shelf-life expiration date." This date shall be determined and applied on the final consumer package or container by the initial processor or manufacturer. Prior to determining this date, each processor or manufacturer shall notify the Department of the intended date selected by him for each fluid milk product. All data and material used by the processor or manufacturer in his determination of this date shall be made available to the Commissioner upon request. If the data and material submitted does not, in the opinion of the Commissioner, justify the "shelf-life expiration date," the Commissioner shall prohibit the sale of the product until such time as satisfactory data is supplied or until a new "shelf-life expiration date" consistent with the data is applied to the product.

(b) The packages or containers shall be marked with the legend "not to be sold after," or "sell by," or any other clearly understandable legend approved by the Department, followed by the "shelf-life expiration date." The designation of the month and date of the month after which the product shall not be sold may be numerical, such as "9-15" or "0915" for September 15 or with the use of an abbreviation for the month such as "Sep 15" or "Se 15."

(c) The "shelf-life expiration date" shall appear in a clear and legible manner and shall be placed on the part of the package or container most likely to be displayed, presented, or shown or examined under customary conditions of display for retail sale, and shall not interfere with the legibility of other mandatory labeling requirements of the product. However, cup containers that are labeled with the date on the bottom of the container shall have displayed on the cap or other conspicuous position information indicating the location of the date. The same provision applies for dates molded into plastic containers. Individual portion-pak containers not intended for direct resale to consumers shall be exempted, provided the bulk container in which they are distributed is properly dated. Containers and packages of frozen cream and frozen desserts mixes not intended for resale to consumers shall also be exempted from the provisions of this regulation.

(d) No milk product referred to in this regulation shall be sold or offered for sale after 11:59 P.M. of the date appearing on the package or container. Products delivered prior to the "shelf-life expiration date" may be consumed on the premises beyond the date appearing thereon.