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Do you use 'Use by' dates? |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 30
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Do you use 'Use by' dates?
Inspired by a post by Swarfega in my other thread... Quote:
Don't get me started on customers who think food goes bad at the stroke of midnight. Anyway, yes its perfectly safe. My own record of a week past sell by date was recently improved upon. I had a chicken piri piri curry that was 15 days past. No ill effects whatsoever.
How do you feel about 'use by' dates? Do you bother with them? Do you think they're a scam for supermarkets to make more ££?? Does the idea of eating something past the 'use by' date fill you with disgust? Also is there a particular formula for setting these or do manufacturers just make them up? I don't think I could bring myself to eat a piri piri chicken curry 15 days past but I've started really looking over my fruit, veg, etc before throwing out... its way too expensive to just bin it if its still good... plus after learning about the way supermarkets treat their 'excess' food, I think anything I can do to cut back on my own waste at home is a good thing!! |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Up North
Posts: 58,791
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I don't use them. I use my eyes and nose and then taste.
I've just had a portion of curry that I made last week and it's been in the fridge. I wasn't sure but after 7 minutes in the microwave it smelt good and taste fine. Hopefully i'll be back tomorrow to follow up on this post ![]() I think it's a double edged sword with use by dates. Some food does require it and supermarkets are just giving the customers a guideline. It's not all just to scam us those. It's to stop themselves being sued when a customer eats something green and fury then complains that they got food poisioning. It is overkill though. Giving use buy dates on dried, dehydrated or tinned food. These things are made to last for years, decades if not centuries. |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,330
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Quote:
I don't use them. I use my eyes and nose and then taste.
I've just had a portion of curry that I made last week and it's been in the fridge. I wasn't sure but after 7 minutes in the microwave it smelt good and taste fine. Hopefully i'll be back tomorrow to follow up on this post ![]() I think it's a double edged sword with use by dates. Some food does require it and supermarkets are just giving the customers a guideline. It's not all just to scam us those. It's to stop themselves being sued when a customer eats something green and fury then complains that they got food poisioning. It is overkill though. Giving use buy dates on dried, dehydrated or tinned food. These things are made to last for years, decades if not centuries. I think you'll find that they're "best before" dates and not "use by" dates. There's a big difference between the two. One shouldn't ignore use by dates completely as it is a date beyond which food, from the microbiological point of view, is highly perishable and is therefore likely after a short period to constitute an immediate danger to human health. (quoted from food standards agency). One should always use their senses to evaluate whether a food is edible beyond the use by date but to ignore it completely leaves one open to being poisoned. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: London, SW3
Posts: 1,040
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We stick to use by/best before dates religiously. If an item is one day past it it goes straight in the bin.
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Black Country lad in Yorkshire
Posts: 118,112
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I use them as a guide but I still smell them
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Posts: 4,011
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Quote:
We stick to use by/best before dates religiously. If an item is one day past it it goes straight in the bin.
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: piggetville
Posts: 4,619
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I doubt I would use anything a week to 10days past its date but I won't chuck milk/bread the day after, my hubby used to but now he doesn't
I go with my instincts, if it looks and smells ok then I am fine with that!! |
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#8 |
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Guest
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 8,966
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You've got to be pretty stupid to believe that you'll get poisoned when the clock strikes midnight and it's out of date.Yet people do for some weird reason.
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,521
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Grr. Just typed a reply and the page wouldn't load.
I don't take much notice of dates, I tend to go by my senses as things can go 'off' before the date stated or usually not for ages afterwards. I do have a habit of smelling milk though, even if it's just been opened. If I know I won't use something fresh for a while, i'll freeze it until i'm ready. I live on my own though, so keep an eye on what I buy as can't stand wasting food. |
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Leeds
Posts: 1,462
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Re-posting this, part of my post in original thread.
The chicken in ready made curries is already cooked (referencing the chicken curry mentioned in the OP). Hence why you cook it in the microwave for just 3-4 minutes. Ok maybe my example was a bit extreme but it just goes to show how silly it is to religiously adhere to the dates on the packaging. As others have said, nose and eyes are the best tools to help. Our evolution has meant that anything that looks and smells bad is best avoided. You'll certainly know if some meat shouldn't be eaten. Failing that, your taste buds will come to the rescue. Tonight I'm having chicken kiev that was supposedly to be eaten by 6/11. It won't harm me in the slightest. I will say that I am more careful with dates from other stores, Tesco and Asda I would imagine aren't as relaxed with their 'use by' dates. |
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 335
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I used to follow used by and best before dates religiously, it was only a few months ago I started to be a little lenient. However, the very first borderline "use within 2 days of opening" (had been open about 2.5 days) had me laid out on the floor writhing in pain for hours. Needless to say, I'm back to being fussy about "use by" and "use within" but am still lenient about "best before".
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: London
Posts: 23,261
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Meat yes, everything else I will judge on individual basis. Although potatoes I am unsure about
(I started a thread about it yesterday - worrying about my x4 spuds that cost 50p being out of date - don't ask!!) OH freaks out about anything out of date though so I wont tell him if something is a few days out of 'best before'. He had a bad experience with some Porridge (has creepy crawlie things in it) so now wont eat anything close to or just over best before date What he doesn't know and all that!
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,813
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Quote:
We stick to use by/best before dates religiously. If an item is one day past it it goes straight in the bin.
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: woking
Posts: 21,684
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I check them in the supermarket so I can select freshest produce but after that if it smells fine, looks fine and tastes fine we eat it.
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Essex
Posts: 16,223
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Meat I am careful with, everything else I am pretty much go by look, smell, taste.
Dried goods generally I find last a long time, had some dried pasta that was 2 years out of date recently. |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 21,393
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I am careful with dairy based products like cream cheese and yoghurt. I will use them 1-2 days after the date, but no longer.
But everything else i dont get hung up about. If it smells off, i wont eat it - but everything is so well packaged these days and air cant get to the meat / cheese etc ... that its generally ok days later. |
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Posts: 1,284
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I hate eating things that have gone off date wise, feels wrong. Most of the time to be fair i do ignore it but on the stuff like cheese, bread etc i dont.
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,330
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Quote:
I used to follow used by and best before dates religiously, it was only a few months ago I started to be a little lenient. However, the very first borderline "use within 2 days of opening" (had been open about 2.5 days) had me laid out on the floor writhing in pain for hours. Needless to say, I'm back to being fussy about "use by" and "use within" but am still lenient about "best before".
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: woking
Posts: 21,684
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Quote:
I hate eating things that have gone off date wise, feels wrong. Most of the time to be fair i do ignore it but on the stuff like cheese, bread etc i dont.
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 309
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Quote:
I am careful with dairy based products like cream cheese and yoghurt. I will use them 1-2 days after the date, but no longer.
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#21 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: woking
Posts: 21,684
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Yes you can smell or taste if it's off - it's this obsession with use by dates that is fuelling the food wastage in this country IMO
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,330
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Quote:
Yes you can smell or taste if it's off - it's this obsession with use by dates that is fuelling the food wastage in this country IMO
If you caught "The Great British Waste Menu" earlier this year you would have seen this in action. |
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#23 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Here <-------------
Posts: 6,644
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I'm always far more conciouss of 'use by' than 'best before', but that's because I know (like many others on the thread) that 'use by' is based on microbiological safety, and set to cover the manufacturer. The smell and look test is always applied, as it is with left-overs.
I'm a bit more cautious when it comes to feeding the kids, and I'll eat stuff that I wouldn't risk with them |
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,562
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'use by' dates are wonderful thing for the supermarkets - they have a twofold advantage ..
1. Legal ars*-coverin, so they won't get sued on perishable items 2. Encouraging people to bin products - gets folk to buy more! So do I use them? I make reference to them sure, but I still make my own assessment anyway. 'Blown' packaging is more telling in my book! Up until 30 years ago, people would have just used their noses, taste buds and common sense.
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 335
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Quote:
I would suggest that this has more to do with how you stored the food. Is your refrigerator working at the correct temperature?
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What he doesn't know and all that!