The thing with best before labels is that a lot of people automatically thought that the product had gone bad if that date had been reached. All it really means is that the food isn't at its absolute best, that's all.
To be exact, it's the date beyond which the producer no longer guarantees its quality. It still may be fine of course, and probably is - they tend to err on the safe side. After all, they don't want lawsuits.
The 'best before' label means nothing to me and I actively ignore it. However the use by/sell by I'm more aware of.
For example the other day I used half a jar of dolmio pasta sauce and stuck the other half in the fridge. According to the label after opening I should use the rest of it within 3 days, well 4 days later I haven't.
I threw it out. Was that a big pointless waste or was I right to be cautious?
A waste. You simmer pasta sauce don't you? Boiling for 5 mins would kill of any lingering bacteria
To be exact, it's the date beyond which the producer no longer guarantees its quality. It still may be fine of course, and probably is - they tend to err on the safe side. After all, they don't want lawsuits.
They are also perfectly happy for you to throw out good product as long as you go out to buy some more.
Got the family arriving for a buffet in a mo and i've just been preparing it, just noticed that some of the meat products are "use by 21 May" which is todays date, are they still ok to eat? And can I still eat them being pregnant or should I leave those products and stick to things with better dates on like the chicken sandwiches?
Have a look at TESCO's Baked in Store Rolls, Quite often Label states " Best Before and Display until" on the very same day they're selling them on. Surely that can't be right to do this.
Bread is best eaten on the day it's baked, and even better before it's cooled down, with a knob of butter melted into it. You can eat it later, but it won't taste nearly as good - but it won't do you any actual harm.
Bread is best eaten on the day it's baked, and eben better before it's cooled down, with a knob of butter melted into it. You can eat it later, but it won't taste nearly as good - but it won't do you any actual harm.
I don't have a problem with Best Before, all it is is an indication that they can say the food will taste as it should up until around that date , now take peanuts you find that eventually they taste musty but that's down to the consumer keeping them so long , so now what will happen if there is no date telling you when they are best before will people start taking things back and demanding refunds and will shops hold on to stock for longer ?
Use By dates are important and generally if its past that use your eyes and nose to check if its ok things do not go off bang on midnight but things such as shellfish, dairy etc you need to take extra care.
Nothing inherently wrong with BB dates. Some foods do taste better consumed within a certain timeframe, whilst still staying perfectly edible for many days, weeks or months later. Seems reasonable that the producer should let the customer know this. It's the general public that needs educating that 'Best Before' doesn't mean and isn't the same as 'Use By'. An inevitable consequence of this will be all the people whining to the DM "Wah, why didn't they tell me that this chocolate/ egg/ veg that I paid £x for would have been tastier/ more healthy if I'd eaten it six weeks ago?! >:(".
Did you know you can keep eggs for months, without even putting them into a fridge. I keep mine for a very long time, buy them in bulk and keep them on top of my kitchen cupboard.
Cant do this in the USA as they wash the eggs before selling. the UK doesn't so they still have a protective coating.
Those in the USA If you put Vaseline onto them they will last for a very long time. Only trouble is once they have been stored in the fridge then you need to keep them in a fridge. Our shops dont refrigerate them as there is no need.
Best before is a marketing exercise to get you to throw things out and buy new things
No it isn't. Most best befores are either based on things going stale (as water gets in) or oxidation - there is no guarantee the product will be as nice after the BB date. It may well still be edible, though, so common sense is still required
I did used to chuck food as per the dates and we had a lot of wasted food.
Now I spend a little bit more time faffing around in the fridge just checking what I have in there freezing what I don't think I am going to use immediately and get rid of things like the outer leaves of salads/ herbs that look like they are wilting etc I find that we hardly have any wasted food and that it tends to last longer.
Things like half used cooking sauces I screw the top back on the jar tightly and put it at the back of the fridge where it is coldest - lasts ages and then I smell it to check its not off.
I have saved about £60 on my shopping bill as I am not constantly replacing foods that don't need to be thrown by their best before dates
Just been on BBC radio news that most top supermarket executives of Sainsburys, Tescos, etc, ignore date labels and just eat them, they said that some dates are ridiculous.
Won't get rid of any toxins produced though. There are some nasty bugs that don't need to be alive when you eat the food to make you ill
There's a thing called hydrochloric acid that gets released by your stomach that will kill all/most germs that are present in food. There's germs in food even before the best before date anyway.
No it isn't. Most best befores are either based on things going stale (as water gets in) or oxidation - there is no guarantee the product will be as nice after the BB date. It may well still be edible, though, so common sense is still required
There's a lot of food out there that's air tight packaged, so it should be absolutely fine if it's opened on the day of the best before date.
I've got to feed four people on a tight budget, I cannot afford to be fussy about sell by/use by dates. If it looks ok and it smells ok they'll be getting it for their tea. I rarely throw any food away.
There's a thing called hydrochloric acid that gets released by your stomach that will kill all/most germs that are present in food. There's germs in food even before the best before date anyway.
Firstly, the poster was talking about toxins released by bacteria before they were killed (or indeed after they are killed), not a bacterial infection per se.
Secondly, some harmful bacteria clearly do survive stomach acid. This is partly because the acidity of your stomach varies enormously depending on how much you've eaten (and what you've eaten), and partly because bacteria's tolerance to acid varies (H Pylori positively thrives in stomach acid, for example). And it's also a numbers game: if you've consumed millions of pathogenic bacteria and stomach acid kills most of them, there can still be enough survivors to make you ill.
Thirdly, there are lots of beneficial bacteria in your gut. They all got there by surviving time in your stomach - and that's a Good Thing.
I've just opened a new bag of granulated sugar. It has a best before date of April 2017. I'm guessing that's a joke.
It may become a hard lump sometime in the early 2020s, and therefore not quite so good.
Bread that is past its best before date but not yet blue is sometimes not good in sandwiches, but will toast up fine.
"Best before" is a useful indicator if it's interpreted literally. But I meet lots of people who won't eat food if it's gone beyond its best before date, as it's "too big a risk".
Is there anyone else out there that would be happy to eat dried rice ten years after its best before date if it had remained dry and hadn't been attacked by insects. (As I write this, I realise that there are probably people happy to eat it even if there were insects )
Firstly, the poster was talking about toxins released by bacteria before they were killed (or indeed after they are killed), not a bacterial infection per se.
Secondly, some harmful bacteria clearly do survive stomach acid. This is partly because the acidity of your stomach varies enormously depending on how much you've eaten (and what you've eaten), and partly because bacteria's tolerance to acid varies (H Pylori positively thrives in stomach acid, for example). And it's also a numbers game: if you've consumed millions of pathogenic bacteria and stomach acid kills most of them, there can still be enough survivors to make you ill.
Thirdly, there are lots of beneficial bacteria in your gut. They all got there by surviving time in your stomach - and that's a Good Thing.
There's also a second stage, from what I've read, where bacteria get passed on as they leave the stomach to get placed in acid yet again. I do know that there's friendly bacteria present in people's bodies. Something I didn't think of though, is that it can also depend on how much you've ate. People will only have so much acid in their bodies. If people are always eating in between meals, then this will obviously use up more acid and because more acid gets used up, there might not be enough acid for the germs in meals later in the day.
Comments
A waste. You simmer pasta sauce don't you? Boiling for 5 mins would kill of any lingering bacteria
They are also perfectly happy for you to throw out good product as long as you go out to buy some more.
Bread is best eaten on the day it's baked, and even better before it's cooled down, with a knob of butter melted into it. You can eat it later, but it won't taste nearly as good - but it won't do you any actual harm.
I'm right with you on that!
Use By dates are important and generally if its past that use your eyes and nose to check if its ok things do not go off bang on midnight but things such as shellfish, dairy etc you need to take extra care.
I think that's optimistic tbf
Did you know you can keep eggs for months, without even putting them into a fridge. I keep mine for a very long time, buy them in bulk and keep them on top of my kitchen cupboard.
Cant do this in the USA as they wash the eggs before selling. the UK doesn't so they still have a protective coating.
Those in the USA If you put Vaseline onto them they will last for a very long time. Only trouble is once they have been stored in the fridge then you need to keep them in a fridge. Our shops dont refrigerate them as there is no need.
No it isn't. Most best befores are either based on things going stale (as water gets in) or oxidation - there is no guarantee the product will be as nice after the BB date. It may well still be edible, though, so common sense is still required
Won't get rid of any toxins produced though. There are some nasty bugs that don't need to be alive when you eat the food to make you ill
Now I spend a little bit more time faffing around in the fridge just checking what I have in there freezing what I don't think I am going to use immediately and get rid of things like the outer leaves of salads/ herbs that look like they are wilting etc I find that we hardly have any wasted food and that it tends to last longer.
Things like half used cooking sauces I screw the top back on the jar tightly and put it at the back of the fridge where it is coldest - lasts ages and then I smell it to check its not off.
I have saved about £60 on my shopping bill as I am not constantly replacing foods that don't need to be thrown by their best before dates
There's a thing called hydrochloric acid that gets released by your stomach that will kill all/most germs that are present in food. There's germs in food even before the best before date anyway.
There's a lot of food out there that's air tight packaged, so it should be absolutely fine if it's opened on the day of the best before date.
Secondly, some harmful bacteria clearly do survive stomach acid. This is partly because the acidity of your stomach varies enormously depending on how much you've eaten (and what you've eaten), and partly because bacteria's tolerance to acid varies (H Pylori positively thrives in stomach acid, for example). And it's also a numbers game: if you've consumed millions of pathogenic bacteria and stomach acid kills most of them, there can still be enough survivors to make you ill.
Thirdly, there are lots of beneficial bacteria in your gut. They all got there by surviving time in your stomach - and that's a Good Thing.
It may become a hard lump sometime in the early 2020s, and therefore not quite so good.
Bread that is past its best before date but not yet blue is sometimes not good in sandwiches, but will toast up fine.
"Best before" is a useful indicator if it's interpreted literally. But I meet lots of people who won't eat food if it's gone beyond its best before date, as it's "too big a risk".
Is there anyone else out there that would be happy to eat dried rice ten years after its best before date if it had remained dry and hadn't been attacked by insects. (As I write this, I realise that there are probably people happy to eat it even if there were insects
There's also a second stage, from what I've read, where bacteria get passed on as they leave the stomach to get placed in acid yet again. I do know that there's friendly bacteria present in people's bodies. Something I didn't think of though, is that it can also depend on how much you've ate. People will only have so much acid in their bodies. If people are always eating in between meals, then this will obviously use up more acid and because more acid gets used up, there might not be enough acid for the germs in meals later in the day.
No it's not. It's a legal requirement as defined by the Food Labelling Regulations.