public static DateFormat createUTCDateFormatter(String dateFormat){
  DateFormat formatter=new SimpleDateFormat(dateFormat);
  formatter.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC"));
  return formatter;
}

public static DateFormat createUTCDateFormatter ( String dateFormat ) { DateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat ( dateFormat ) ; formatter . setTimeZone ( TimeZone . getTimeZone ( "UTC" ) ) ; return formatter ; }
creates a dateformat that assumes the incoming date is in utc time .
