Why this date gun label earns its place
A date gun exists to take the handwriting out of date coding. Two lines carry the wording and the date on the same label, and because "Use By" is already printed the operator only has to set and print the date. The label then says the same thing every time, in the same place, whoever is holding the gun. On a prep bench turning out tubs by the dozen, that is the difference between a labelling run that takes seconds and one that becomes a bottleneck.
Use By is the wording that belongs on food where the risk is microbiological rather than a matter of quality, which is most of what a chilled prep kitchen produces. Printed coding also stands up better on a walk-round: the wording is identical on every container, so a supervisor is checking dates rather than deciphering handwriting. Apply to a clean, dry part of the container or its wrapping so the adhesive gets proper contact before the food goes into the cold.
