consume by dates on food

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Just chop the green furry bits off (if you don't like the taste) is my advice.

 

[slowmotion]

I draw the line at shellfish, but anything else just has to pass the sniff test. Quite why anybody would stick to the use -by date on a packet of rice or flour remains a mystery.

 

[Arch]

I draw the line at shellfish, but anything else just has to pass the sniff test. Quite why anybody would stick to the use -by date on a packet of rice or flour remains a mystery.

Because some people have become dull witted automata, and can't think for themselves anymore.

If it smells ok, I'll eat it.

 

[wobbler]

Aren't some of these dates to do with the packaging breaking down and leaching chemicals into what you eat, or drink? Or is this a "water cooler story" to scare people into buying new bottles of water instead of refilling their empties?

 

[potsy]

If it's a bit off then just cover it with ketchup.

What if the ketchup is out of date too

 

[longers]

Aren't some of these dates to do with the packaging breaking down and leaching chemicals into what you eat, or drink?

It's only a non educated guess but I'd trust glass and cans more than plastics.

 

[Hover Fly]

What little food in packets that comes into our gaff doesn't last long enough to reach a date.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Aren't some of these dates to do with the packaging breaking down and leaching chemicals into what you eat, or drink? Or is this a "water cooler story" to scare people into buying new bottles of water instead of refilling their empties?

I think you're refering to 'Plasticisers' from packaging migrating into foods. This has been a concern and there is IIRC EU legislation between what materials can or cannot come into contact with food. To be honest packaging specifics are not my area of expertise.

However...
As food ages it degrades (though some even matures), some faster than others. Dry pasta will keep for ages, chilled chicken not so long. Some degredation will affect 'quality' aspects of the food, i.e soggy biscuits, stale cakes, flavour loss, textural changes with time. The raising ability of self-raising flour dissipates with time and storeage temperature generally due to moisture absorbtion from the air. Crisps go soft and rancid, fruit over-ripens, salad softens etc. Not harmful, but not desirable!
These are where the 'best before' type of advice is given. Consumption after the date will not harm you, but the product will be past it's prime. In addition, much packaging is also partially permeable to moisture and gas molecules, so with time moisture and oxygen may permeate and begin to affect the product quality. Packaging is not entirely inert either and may also degrade with time. Indeed some packaging may be biodegradeable by design.


'Use-by' dates are there to prevent people being harmed by foodstuffs, generally due to microbial growth. Use by dates are the subject of much testing under a variety of conditions to ensure that the product will be safe under normal storeage and distribution. Of course there is a safety margin built-in but the testing regimes cannot cover every kind of product use and abuse.
By all means sniff a product past it's use-by date, but you're assuming you can detect levels of harmful micro-organisms... which you can't. Smell is no guarauntee of product safety. Campylobacter in certain chilled products can be present a significant health risk at levels you would never see or smell. A higher level of caution is required with products beyond their use-by dates.

Finally, mould... Many moulds produce toxins and often the part you see and cut-off is not all there is and the tentacle-like hyphae can extend invisbly deep into the product. Mouldy jam I'd chuck!

 

[slowmotion]

Thanks FF. Interesting stuff. Can I gently suggest that the food industry is being a bit cautious and playing safe? Obviously they fear legal action from some opportunistic individual whose delicate kid gets some loose stools.

What a lot of people fail to recognise is that eating faintly dodgy food builds up a resistance to Delhi Belly. Those who do not are forever doomed to avoid the local food stalls when they venture abroad, and drone on about how they got "sick" from a tomato salad, as they queue at the local McDonalds. Sad really. Eat bad stuff....but not a dodgy seafood confection in Bonifacio, Corsica. I will spare you the details.

 

[ColinJ]

What a lot of people fail to recognise is that eating faintly dodgy food builds up a resistance to Delhi Belly.

Ask PaulB about his fish finger sandwich from Asda!

 

[slowmotion]

Ask PaulB about his fish finger sandwich from Asda!

I'll spare you Bonifacio if he spares me ASDA.

 

[decca234uk]

What a complete waste of good food. Ok if it's fresh cut meat but cans I just can't understand. It's an extravagance that only rich countries can indulge in.

 

[swee'pea99]

Bear in mind too that litigation-wary businesses have to protect themselves against the lowest common denominator. Something that might life-threaten an unhealthy/fragile pensioner might give me a slightly dicky tummy for half an hour.

 

[GordonB]

Try www.approvedfood.co.uk for out of date foods. Some are past the best before date but none past the use before limit. I bought 40 packs of no added sugar Alpen from them at 25p per pack and a whole bunch of de-identified pickles (mostly Tesco or Sainsbury). All very nice although Rezillo should take note that I've been guzzling the pickled garlic and he may wish to stay in front this afternoon..........

Oh, and if you do buy from Approved Food, take care to check the pack size as they sometimes have some nice looking bargains that are in catering size packs. A friend's wife bought 6 bottles of concentrated mint sauce when they were 20p per bottle - turned out they weren't the 240g version but rather the catering size 2.4kg jobs!

Gordon

 

[User482]

I buy my fruit and veg from the greengrocer, meat from the butcher, and fish from the fishmonger. Nothing they sell comes with a "use by" date.

I'm still here.