Find your code

Where's the code on my milk?

When it's there, it's small, usually stamped in ink, and almost always right next to the date. Here's where to look.

Look in these spots

1. Next to the date. The plant code is usually printed in the same ink stamp as the “sell by” or “use by” date.
2. Plastic gallons and half-gallons: the cap, the neck, or the shoulder of the jug.
3. Paper cartons: the top fin or the slanted gable top.
4. Half-pints, creamers and cream: the top seam or the lid.
5. Other dairy: yogurt, sour cream and cottage cheese from listed plants often carry a code on the lid or cup rim.

How to read it

The code has two parts separated by a dash, like 24-013:

• The first part (1–2 digits) is the state where the plant is located — 24 is Maryland.
• The second part is the plant's number within that state — usually 2 to 5 digits. A few states use letters, like Puerto Rico's 43-RM 08.

Ignore anything else in the stamp: times, line numbers, batch letters, or a second date.

Common misreads

• Ink stamps blur 0 and 8, 1 and 7, 5 and 6. If a lookup fails, try the lookalike digit.
• Leading zeros matter on the carton but not to us: 42-92 will still find 42-092, and we'll tell you.
• Plant-based “milks” and some imported products don't use this code system.
• Not every package has one. Most U.S. milk prints the code, but the rules also let a processor identify itself another way — for example by printing its name and address (“processed by…”). If there's no two-part number, look for that text instead.

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State codes

These are the state numbers used in FDA's list. They follow the federal (FIPS) state numbers, except Puerto Rico, which FDA lists as 43.

District of Columbia (11) has no plants on FDA's interstate list.