8

Is this label telling the consumer that it is best to consume the drink 7 to 10 days after opening it?

Picture of juice carton label

I know what they are getting at, but I feel like it should say "Best if consumed within 7 to 10 days of opening". Is my suspicion correct?

This is what I perceive like the label is really saying

    |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
       1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10
   (Opened)                        (Best consumed here)
10
  • No, it means you -don't- want to consume it -after- ten days, and may even be bad as early as 7 days.
    – Mitch
    May 7, 2013 at 16:46
  • 4
    Instead of saying "within 7 to 10 days of opening", why not just "within 10 days of opening"? Strange construction of sentence.
    – Mohit
    May 7, 2013 at 16:46
  • 3
    What it says is that if you consume it before Day 7, it will not be at its best.
    – Andrew Leach
    May 7, 2013 at 16:47
  • 1
    It doesn't mean that it will be bad after 7 days (although it might be bad after 10 days). It just means it won't be its best. May 7, 2013 at 16:49
  • 1
    This is about taste, not safety.
    – tchrist
    May 7, 2013 at 16:55

2 Answers 2

7

No. You are wilfully parsing it as though "7 - 10 day" is an interval to which within applies. But within does not take an implicit interval like that. You could say "within the period 7 - 10 days", but that's the only way I can see to get the meaning you want.

Which leaves the alternative (and clearly intended) parsing within x days after opening, where x is specified loosely.

4

The "Within" portion of the phrase is intended to eliminate the interpretation that you are trying to impose on it.

opened
0---1---2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9---10
(within 7 days .............)    
(within 10 days .........................)
(within 7-10 days ..........?????????????)

The extended portion of the range covered by . is definitely good; the portion covered by ? is probably good, but not guaranteed.

The "after opening" is probably there to frustrate the pedants who would insist that "within 7-10 days of opening" includes a total of 14-20 days:

                               open
10--9--8--7--6--5--4--3--2--1--0--1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10
          (within 7 days of ........................)
                               (within 7 days after )

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