An Air Canada passenger from New York finishes her meal during her flight. However, she’s shocked when she notices the expiration date, sparking debate in the comments.
In a video with over 620,000 views, TikToker Kerry (@comfywith_kerry) sits in her airplane seat. She turns the camera around to show the expiration date on a bread roll. It reads, “06/11/2025.”
Then she shows the date printed on the aluminum foil of her main meal, 05/11/2025.
On-screen text reads, “When you’re flying Air Canada on Nov, 2025… and realize after finishing your meal that the beef they served expired 6 months ago. Pray for me.”
Was Air Canada’s Food Actually Expired?
Despite Kerry’s concerns, commenters quickly assured her that the airline’s food isn’t expired. The misunderstanding can instead be chalked up to a difference in how Americans vs. Canadians write numerical dates.
“Girl those dates are 5th and 6th of November 2025! Everywhere else in the world writes dates as day/month/year,” one explained.
Another remarked, “Whole word uses dd/mm/yyyy format except America. But at least you guys should learn it.”
According to the Guardian, researchers don’t exactly know why the United States writes dates in mm/dd/yyyy. However, the U.S. is the only country to adopt that format.
Redditors on r/answers hypothesize that the date is written numerically to match how Americans colloquially discuss dates.
“I believe it’s because of how it’s said colloquially in conversation. I.e. When is your birthday? ‘It’s August 3rd, 2018,’ then becomes 8/3/2018,” one suggested. “So the more proper English Empire/Commonwealth answer being ‘The 3rd of August, 2018.’ Which tracks to 3/8/2018.”
How Did International Viewers React To The Mix-Up?
Viewers from all over the world joked about the misunderstanding, questioning why America contrasts so many international standards for numbers and math.
“It AIR CANADA. Hello, they use metric system, so they do use dd/mm/yy on the package,” a commenter exclaimed.
Another quipped, “Because places outside America exist and things like the date are done differently – SHOCKING!”
“This is a skit, right?… Or am i just too European for this?” a third joked.
“This is why you guys can’t have Kinder surprises btw,” a fourth remarked.
However, some were more sympathetic.
“Everyone else puts the date before the month unlike the US so you are good,” one assured.
“The states uses month day year. The rest of the world uses day month year. So you’re good,” a second wrote.
In an email to BroBible, Kerry clarified that she was aware of the difference in numerical date styles but asked the flight attendant.
“I thought the same thing about the Date System in Canada being different. And then my bf asked the flight attendant, and she replied, ‘Yes, that’s the correct date, but we freeze our meals for up to six months, and they are still good,'” she explained.
Kerry continued, “The food is pretty awful, and the only reason I looked for the expiration date is because the bread felt like rubber.”
@comfywith_kerry EXPIRED food on Canada Air 😩🇨🇦 #flight #traveltiktok #airplanefood #flights #ohno @canadaairline
BroBible reached out to Air Canada via email for further comment.