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Batch Coding Using the Julian Date Code

Last updated: 24th May 2024

What is a Julian Date?

A Julian Date is a code representing the date a product was manufactured or packaged. This coding system is used to track production dates for product recalls or any other issues that may arise.

They can be used to create batch codes for products in Nutritics

The format for these codes is CYYDDD, where: 

  • C is the century subtracted from 19, i.e. 1998’s century number is 19 = 19 -19 = 0, 2000 = 20 – 19 = 1
  • YY is the year within the century
  • DDD is the day in the year

For example, May 14th 2021 has a code of 121134.

This coding system is used to track production dates for product recalls or any other issues that may arise, and they can be used to create batch codes for products in Nutritics. 

TO ADD A BATCH CODE TO A PRODUCT LABEL:

  1. Open a label and enable the ‘Dates’ element
  2. Set the date the product was produced using the Preparation Date  

Pro Tip: Tick ‘Automatically update on print’ to update the Julian date automatically when labels are printed. 

  1. Enable the ‘Traceability’ element and tick Auto-calculate batch code from the Julian date. A batch code will be added to the label workspace. 

You can find out more about legal labelling requirements for the UK on the government’s website.