Lot Number vs Batch Number: Which to Use and When

There is no difference in the regulatory definitions: both are a distinctive code from which the history of a product's manufacture, packing and distribution can be determined. The practical difference is scope. A batch is one manufacturing run. A lot is a batch, or an identified portion of one, tracked as a unit.

The definitions in force, as of October 2026 (for FSSAI, consolidated Version VIII of 9 September 2025):

The common rule of thumb, "batch is production, lot is inventory", is a convention. It works inside a company that applies it consistently, but none of the definitions above state it. The last row is a trap: when a Legal Metrology inspector says "lot", that means a counting quantity, not the number on your label.

Either. For packaged food, FSSAI requires that a batch number, code number or lot number is declared on the label (regulation 5(9)). The definition accepts Batch No., B. No., L. No., Lot No., Code, LN, CN and BN. Pick one wording and print it the same way on every product.

Three details save trouble:

• Dates are separate. Regulation 5(10) requires the date of manufacture or packaging and the expiry or use-by date to be declared in addition to the number.
• Small packs. Under regulation 8(1), a pack with a surface area of 100 square centimetres or less is exempt from the lot, batch or code number, but the information must appear on the multi-unit pack.
• Online listings. Under regulation 4(2), for food sold through e-commerce, the batch or lot number, the best-before, use-by and expiry dates, and the date of manufacture or packing are excluded from the information that must be shown before sale. The exclusion concerns the listing. The pack that arrives is still labelled under the same Regulations.

FSSAI amends these Regulations often, so check the current consolidated text before you print labels.

For medicines, rule 96(1)(v) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 sets the labelling requirement shown in the table, as published on the CDSCO site. Check it against current amendments and your manufacturing licence conditions.

For exports to the United States, drug exporters meet the definitions in 21 CFR 210.3. For food, the FDA's traceability lot code belongs to its food traceability rule. As of October 2026, FDA will not require compliance with the food traceability rule before 20 July 2028. The date was extended from 20 January 2026, and Congress directed FDA not to enforce the rule before then. The extension is also set out in the Federal Register notice of 7 August 2025.

A batch and a lot relate as one to one, one batch to many lots, or many batches to one lot; goods received from a supplier carry the supplier's number plus yours. Look at one production run and follow where the goods go.

A worked example, using illustrative figures: a run of 10,000 bottles is numbered L2-260915-03. It splits into -A with 6,500 bottles for one distributor, -B with 3,000 for another, and -C with 500 held back for stock and rejects. The lots add up to 10,000 (6,500 + 3,000 + 500), so every bottle is accounted for and each lot traces back to one run.

Pooling needs the most care. Some plants call a grouping of several batches a "lot". That is a company convention rather than something the definitions above describe, so it needs a written rule, and each pooled batch must stay visible inside the lot.

Numbering fails when records are not linked, supplier numbers are overwritten, expiry dates stand in for identity, or numbers are reused. A recall asks "which customers have this?" and "what went into it?", and a gap in either direction stops the answer. These are failure points we expect, in our view:

• The number lives only on the pallet label. The production record, the dispatch record and the label must all carry the same number.
• The supplier's number is overwritten. If you replace a supplier's lot number with your own, you cannot tell a supplier which delivery was faulty.
• The expiry date is the identity. Two runs with the same expiry then collide. Hold expiry in its own field; our guide to batch expiry software for first-expiry-first-out (FEFO) operations shows how expiry is handled once it has its own field.
• Numbers are reused. A number must never be issued twice, even years apart.
• Raw materials and finished goods follow different words. Some plants say "lot" for incoming material and "batch" for finished goods. That is fine only if it is written down and applied every time.

A different distributor number may be the distributor's own shipment code. Ask the manufacturer for its batch number to settle whether two lots came from the same run.

Use a short, readable pattern that is unique, never reused, and printed identically on the label and in every record. Our recommended pattern is [line code]-[YYMMDD]-[run number]-[split letter].

For example, L2-260915-03-B means line 2, a run on 15 September 2026, the third run, and the second split. Our recommendations for the rules around it:

1. Issue each number once and never recycle it.
2. Keep it short enough to print on a label and scan.
3. Leave the split letter off where there is no split.
4. Hold supplier, quantity and location in their own fields, not packed into the number.
5. Write the rule as a short procedure so any shift applies it the same way.

Run a 10-minute recall drill on one number. Our target of 10 minutes is a recommendation, not a regulatory limit. Choose a finished-goods number from last quarter at random, not your cleanest record, and run each check. For a fuller list of what traceability software should prove, see our product traceability software requirements checklist.

If all four pass within 10 minutes, your numbering works whatever you call it.

We track inventory by batch, expiry date and serial number inside Salesforce. Each item receives a unique lot or serial number that carries information such as its production date and batch number, and its location, quantity and expiry date are recorded with it, which helps prevent expired or damaged stock reaching customers.

The template above fits that structure, because the number can carry the production date and batch number. Our lot and serial tracking feature is where you set it up.

Setup needs your inventory, product and warehouse data, and onboarding typically takes a minimum of two weeks, depending on data readiness and the complexity of your business rules. Talk to our team about running the recall drill on your own data: our 15-day free trial gives full access to all features, with no credit card required.