A TikToker named Chrissy J has sparked a wave of surprise online after realising she had been reading milk “use by” labels wrong all her life. She had always believed a label such as “25th January and 13.44” meant the milk would expire on that date at exactly that time of day.
Many viewers admitted they had believed the same thing, and the video quickly filled with people saying they too had been checking the clock on their milk bottles. Others stepped in to correct the misunderstanding, explaining that the second number is not an expiry time at all.
According to commenters, the figure is actually a batch or packing code — the time the batch went through the printing or packing process — and has nothing to do with when the milk goes off. The mix-up, they said, comes from how the date and code sit side by side on the label.
The debate did not stop there. Some viewers joked about the confusion, while others said the printed dates should not be trusted blindly anyway, advising people to judge milk by sight and smell instead — a point that sparked a side debate about food waste.