Pay attention to this date from now on. It’s not an ordinary expiration date. After working for years and years in grocery stores, I see that most people just randomly buy eggs without really noticing this detail…. I never knew this before 😱

This lesser-known detail is called the Julian date, sometimes referred to as the “pack date.” Unlike the expiration or “best by” date, which is often set weeks ahead, the Julian date shows the exact day the eggs were packed. It’s represented by a three-digit number ranging from 001 to 365, corresponding to each day of the year. For example, 001 means January 1st, while 365 represents December 31st.

At first glance, it might look like a random code printed on the carton, easy to ignore. But once you understand it, it becomes a powerful tool for choosing fresher eggs. The closer that number is to the current day of the year, the fresher the eggs are likely to be.