People baffled about strange numbers on sauce sachets - but Heinz solves mystery

18 January 2024 , 15:33

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The baffled diner caused a debate over what the numbers meant on the packets (Image: Gado via Getty Images)

Everyone is partial to a sauce packet (of four) in a restaurant - but have you ever noticed the little numbers on the top of the sachets?

If you're one of those people who hadn't noticed before, you'll probably struggle to un-see them now, but people have been wondering what the numbers are actually for. While the numbers may seem pretty irrelevant to people who are about to squeeze the sauce onto their plate, it's a random fact that you will know the answer to if it ever comes up in a pub quiz. The mystery recently circled online, with many people guessing what they could be, but Heinz came to the rescue to put the baffled diners out of their misery and revealed what they mean.

The baffled diner asked others if they knew what the numbers meant (James Orr/Facebook)

People were questioning why the numbers were there after a diner uploaded a pot of sauce packets on Facebook and asked if anyone knew what the numbers were for. The man, named Joe, circled the numbers and shared it online. He said: "I don't really know why I want to know this, but it's eating away at me – why do these sauce sachets have different numbers on the tear-off corner, they are a different print to the best before date printing."

It seems as if the question stumped people as they tried to figure out a logical reason as to why. As one person joked it was how many attempts it would take you to open the sachet, another Facebook user jibed: "So we can collect them. I have several albums full now," another said: "You collect them and when you have sufficient amounts, you play with them like Uno. Use Google to download the rules and scoring booklet."

Others thought they were numbered in order of use as one person chimed: "Clearly the order you need to use them in," and a second person echoed: "It's the order you're supposed to use them when you get a multipack." While they were good guesses, it seemed as if they weren't right, and Heinz weighed in on the discussion.

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It seemed as if this pondering question has been baffling people for a number of years, as Heinz offered an explanation back in 2015 when they were asked on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The numbers on the sachets relate to the filling line which the sachet was filled on," the official Heinz account explained. The response was shared to the Facebook discussion to solve the mystery.

As someone then replied to Heinz's explanation, they asked: "Is this so you can relate to batches too?" The brand answered: "There will be batch details on the box too, but the number on the sachet simply refers to the filling head."

So we can all rest easy now we've come to the conclusion of the mystery.

Niamh Kirk