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Hello Forumites! However well-intentioned, for the safety of other users we ask that you refrain from seeking or offering medical advice. This includes recommendations for medicines, procedures or over-the-counter remedies. Posts or threads found to be in breach of this rule will be removed.Quick response please-would you eat sausages 2 days out of date?
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Hi Peakma
Tesco are a bit of a pain with sell by dates if you have your shopping delivered. I have had this a few times but I always complain and they refund you in full.
I often defrost raw chicken then curry it, and freeze the left overs. I don't think I would defrost cooked chicken then curry and refreeze because by the time you eat the refrozen chicken it will have been cooked three times. Does that make sense?
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The problem is, you don't know if the food has been kept at the correct temperature right through the supply chain. DH used to work in manufacturing process control, more than once at some sort of food plant/factory where stuff wasn't chilled when it should have been..... dairy took average readings in the distribution area..... some of it was above the average temp. This may explain why milk sometimes goes off quicker than others.
Another problem is that not all the things that 'spoil' food are visible or smelly. The visible and smelly stuff gives you a warning that the food is probably best thrown away, but not all microorganisims are good like that, the food can smell/look fine, but is actually heaving with stuff that will make you ill.
I risk out of date stuff with many foods, but meat isn't one of them.[SIZE=-1]"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"[/SIZE]
Trying not to waste food!:j
ETA Philosophy is wondering whether a Bloody Mary counts as a Smoothie0 -
Hi Peakma
Tesco are a bit of a pain with sell by dates if you have your shopping delivered. I have had this a few times but I always complain and they refund you in full.
I often defrost raw chicken then curry it, and freeze the left overs. I don't think I would defrost cooked chicken then curry and refreeze because by the time you eat the refrozen chicken it will have been cooked three times. Does that make sense?
I was always taught only warm something up once.... and do it properly![SIZE=-1]"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"[/SIZE]
Trying not to waste food!:j
ETA Philosophy is wondering whether a Bloody Mary counts as a Smoothie0 -
The problem is, you don't know if the food has been kept at the correct temperature right through the supply chain. DH used to work in manufacturing process control, more than once at some sort of food plant/factory where stuff wasn't chilled when it should have been..... dairy took average readings in the distribution area..... some of it was above the average temp. This may explain why milk sometimes goes off quicker than others.
Coincidence or what.... I just noticed someone has left the milk container on the draining board..... had a sniff, looked at the date, yesterday's... minging! Sometimes we use it 2/3 days after the date because we haven't noticed and it smells OK![SIZE=-1]"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"[/SIZE]
Trying not to waste food!:j
ETA Philosophy is wondering whether a Bloody Mary counts as a Smoothie0 -
Ewww....well, as someone who contracted salmonella from sausages as a child (holiday breakfast: I'd finished eating 2 sausages just as uncle announced "don't eat the sausages they're off!") I'm really squeamish about out of date meat - actually that turned me veggie for 12 years! I guess it's just a question of luck.
Very interested by the re-freezing leftovers of something though as I always thought I couldn't do that....0 -
there's loads of stuff available from market stalls and some stores that's "out of date". I've recently bought jams, pickles, biscuits, soft drinks etc. all at a fraction of the normal price and perfectly OK. Not sure about the sausages though or other things that might "go off"0
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There's two types of date's on things tho - "use by" and "best before"
Things that are past the best before are ok to eat still, it's usually dry stuff, or things that aren't meat based. So crisps, bread, fruit, etc, are all ok till generally after the best before, just might not be as perfect as you're used to.
Things that have a "use by" are ones that have a risk of causing food poisoning, like meat stuffs, so be more careful with that one.0 -
I don't take any notice of use by dates on fruit, veg etc.
Fruit and veg dates are usually just 'sell by' and 'best before'. They'll lose nutritional value (especially vitamins) and will become more sugary, but as long as there's not obvious mould or rot, you'll almost certainly be OK. Ditto for dry foods like biscuits.
Meat and dairy, on the other hand, is a different matter - bacteria can reach harmful levels before the food begins to smell or look off. You'll note that the dates are usually 'use by' too! Of course, these dates will have some slack so that they're (nearly) always safe - to allow for variation in initial bacteria levels and temperatures during the entire supply chain.But never really know how rigidly to stick to meat guide lines,my sense of smell isn't great,and once you've started to wonder if it is or isn't o.k it always tastes wrong even if its fine.Usually I'd probably just bin it rather than run the risk of everyone being sick and feeling unwell,but we had nothing else in and they were expensive ones!
Personally, I'll admit to be OK drinking milk that's been open longer than recommended, as long as it's still within the 'use by' date and refrigerated during that time, and hard cheese as long as I cut off any obvious mould. Meat, though, I'm very careful with, and especially poultry and anything that's been minced.
See also http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/labellingterms/useby/ and http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/labellingterms/bestbefore/
If you return them with the receipt, most supermarkets will probably take your word for it. The hassle involved in returning stuff is such that most people probably won't bother exploiting this to scam the supermarkets.I was really wondering whether to just bin them,I was pretty annoyed at Tesco for them having such a short life span,seen as they wanted eating two days after buying.Not as bad as some I got from Aldi a few weeks back,I went to get them from the fridge,and the bag was all swollen up,looked at the date and they were actually a week out of date when I bought them!! Still a bit annoyed with myself for not complaining,but just thought theres no way I could prove it!
To prevent this happening again, don't just reach for the first item on the shelf - have a rummage to see if there are any fresher (i.e. longer dates) packs behind the stuff at the front. Also, plan your meals - be aware of when you're thinking of eating out and buy food with dates accordingly.
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe/storing/ says about refreezing meat:So is there a there another similar thread on food hygiene? another thing I'm never sure about is why you cant freeze something twice? so for example ,if I defrost some chicken,cook a curry,can I freeze the left overs or not?
"If you defrost raw meat and then cook it thoroughly, you can freeze it again, but remember never reheat foods more than once."
and http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/foodmyths/#elem221088 adds:
"When you cook a batch or save leftovers, it's important to cool the food quickly (in one to two hours), then freeze it in sealed containers. And always make sure you reheat food until it's piping hot all the way through."
You shouldn't refreeze things you'd eat whilst frozen (e.g. ice-cream) after they've thawed: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/keepingfoodsafe/asksamstoringpreparing/0 -
let common sense rule if it looks ok and smells ok use it
I agree.
With food, if it looks OK and smells OK, then it generally IS OK. I think they tend to be overly 'careful' with dates on food these days.
After all, jam is meant to be a 'preserve' and that has use by dates on too. But it can be well in date and be bad if the lid was never sealed on properly in the first place, or air hsa somehow got in. Same with pickles.0 -
Back to nature guys...animals can't read and don't have packaged food. They go off smell and appearance...it's no coincidence that off eggs smell so bad and off fruit looks like it's been rolling around the back of a sofa for a few years.
Notice the difference between "best by" and "use by" - there's a big difference - and be conscious that in a world of sueing and the food standards agency are they likely to be erring on the side of caution?!
Those of us who do this all the time might not suffer as I believe your bodies become more tolerant with repeated small exposure to nasties. If you've never eaten anything out of date before don't jump in at the deep end or you may be sitting down for longer than expected tomorrow!!!!
Finally if you're a skint student...move in with fussy girls and hoover up the masses of about to be chucked food for free! ...got me through uni!0
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