It’s 23 for ME!

Ever wonder where the dairy products you’re buying were processed? It’s easy to find out.

Some dairies print the name and location of the processing plant on their label. But many dairies, and almost all “store” brands of dairy products, use the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) system.

To find the FIPS number, look at the area where the sell-by date is stamped on your carton. Depending on the brand, there may be different sequences of numbers, but part of the sequence will have a two-digit number followed by a hyphen and then another number, which could be two to four digits. The two-digit number before the hyphen tells you the state where the processing plant is located. The number after the hyphen identifies the particular processing plant.

Dairy processing plants located in Maine have number 23. So if you want to purchase products that are processed in Maine, remember “It’s 23 for ME.”

Here are some examples of the FIPS numbering system:

Nature’s Place (Hannaford) organic milk EH4L2 APR-07-09 12:15 36-5631
Hannaford Half & Half conventional 06L2 APR-21-09 14:53 36-5631
Both of these products were produced in New York (#36) at plant number 5631, which is an H.P. Hood plant in Oneida, N.Y.

Cabot Cottage Cheese 50-19 MAR 11 09 X CS 08:26
This cheese was processed in Vermont (#50) and plant number 19, which is the Cabot Cooperative Creamery in Cabot, Vt.

These numbers are assigned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to all interstate milk shippers. You can read about this system at SANITATION COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT RATINGS OF INTERSTATE MILK SHIPPERS.  The F.D.A. revises its list every quarter. The most recent list is dated January, 2009. You can use it to locate any plant in any state.

Here is the plant information for Maine processing plants:
 

Current list of FSIP state ID numbers:

These numbers are assigned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to all interstate milk shippers. You can read about this system at SANITATION COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT RATINGS OF INTERSTATE MILK SHIPPERS.
The F.D.A. revises its list every quarter. The most recent list is dated January, 2009 (pdf). You can use it to locate any plant in any state.