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A date is a claim about conditions

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The requirement reaches one of this group's leaves directly And the date is selected on a basis With a condition attached to the whole thing Which is the finding So moving the product changes the premise This property does not say what follows from that And the mechanism generalizes The first criterion is about nutrients And the second is about delivery Which is a packaging criterion in a federal quality standard Then there is the shelf, and it is measured on a new axis 109 of 176 top out at 120 F References

Until that date, under the conditions. Change the container and the conditions change.

The requirement reaches one of this group's leaves directly

Formula storage. 21 CFR 107.20(c) requires a use by date on the label of an infant formula, with the blank filled in with a month and year.

And the date is selected on a basis

On the basis of tests or other information showing that the formula, until that date, will meet two criteria.

With a condition attached to the whole thing

Under the conditions of handling, storage, preparation, and use prescribed by label directions.

Which is the finding

A date is not a property of the food. It is a claim about the food under a stated regime, and the regime is part of the claim.

So moving the product changes the premise

Decanting formula into a different container is handling and storage outside the prescribed conditions, and the date was selected for those conditions.

This property does not say what follows from that

Nothing here states what a household may do, or what other federal date requirements exist. The mechanism is the content.

And the mechanism generalizes

Every date on every food package is a claim under some assumed condition, whether or not a regulation says so. A date without its conditions is half a statement.

The first criterion is about nutrients

When consumed, contain not less than the quantity of each nutrient as set forth on its label. Which is about what survives storage rather than about spoilage.

And the second is about delivery

Otherwise be of an acceptable quality, with the example given as pass through an ordinary bottle nipple.

Which is a packaging criterion in a federal quality standard

And the only one of its kind in this library. Both criteria have their own page.

Then there is the shelf, and it is measured on a new axis

A temperature range is published on all 176 containers in this group and takes four values.

109 of 176 top out at 120 F

Which is below a hot dishwasher. Two containers span a freezer and an oven, and that is the whole offering.

References

21 CFR 107.20(c) requires on the label of an infant formula a "Use by ______" date, "the blank to be filled in with the month and year selected by the manufacturer, packer, or distributor of the infant formula on the basis of tests or other information showing that the infant formula, until that date, under the conditions of handling, storage, preparation, and use prescribed by label directions, will: (1) when consumed, contain not less than the quantity of each nutrient, as set forth on its label; and (2) otherwise be of an acceptable quality (e.g., pass through an ordinary bottle nipple)." Nothing on these pages states what other federal date labeling requirements exist or do not exist. law.cornell.edu

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. A temperature range specification is published on all 176 containers in this group and takes exactly four values: -40 to 120 F on 109 containers, 0 to 240 F on 45, -100 to 190 F on 20, and -100 to 300 F on 2. So 109 of 176 top out at 120 F. The cold-tolerant groups stop at 120 or 190 F and the heat-tolerant group bottoms out at 0 F, so only the 2 containers rated -100 to 300 F span both a freezer and an oven. Catalog-wide the field takes nine values. A temperature range is not a statement that a container is microwave, dishwasher or oven safe; only a manufacturer can make those.

Written from 21 CFR 107.20(c) and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Nothing here says what other federal date labeling requirements exist, how long any leftover keeps, or whether any container is microwave, dishwasher or oven safe: a published temperature range is not one of those statements and only a manufacturer can make them. The temperature range field is published on all 176 containers in this group and takes four values, of which only one, on two containers, spans a freezer and an oven.