Supermarket Shopping guide discussion

sammiejo_2

Hi all

I bought some beers last summer for a party and had some left over so they've been in my fridge for the past 6-7 months (I thought I'd use it for shandies but didn't as I'm not a huge drinker) do you think its still safe to use them? The best before date is February 2011, I'm planning to use them asap!

Does anyone have any advice or experience of drinking out of date alcohol/beer? I definitely don't want to get sick!

Thanks!
:beer:

jenniewb

sammiejo wrote: »

Hi all

I bought some beers last summer for a party and had some left over so they've been in my fridge for the past 6-7 months (I thought I'd use it for shandies but didn't as I'm not a huge drinker) do you think its still safe to use them? The best before date is February 2011, I'm planning to use them asap!

Does anyone have any advice or experience of drinking out of date alcohol/beer? I definitely don't want to get sick!

Thanks!
:beer:

I don't want to say 100% either way as I am by no means a food safty specialist! But personally if it were me (I'd have to imagine it were red wine as I can't 'do' beer!) I'd still drink it.

I think the main problems would be the alcohol going 'off' and tasting vinegary, this you'd be able to notice if your used to drinking the same beer as in-date.
Otherwise there could theoreticly be an issue with the acids eating into the tin but I find this very unlikely: I have seen and even mistakenly bought cans of diet coke (sweeteners are just as if not more acidic then sugar) and its been a year or more out of date, the cans had not leaked. If it were possible for the cans to disintegrate at any rate its got to be a slow one.

Those are my reasonings anyway, I'd drink the beer (if I drank beer), its wasted otherwise and doesn't hurt to taste it all first. A month is nothing and I'm sure thats within the safty lee-way they'd probably allow.

PS it works great to make hair super shiney if you decide not to drink it! You could offer it to the women in your home/family or even yourself if you value that salon-fresh shine

sammiejo_2

jenniewb wrote: »

I don't want to say 100% either way as I am by no means a food safty specialist! But personally if it were me (I'd have to imagine it were red wine as I can't 'do' beer!) I'd still drink it.

I think the main problems would be the alcohol going 'off' and tasting vinegary, this you'd be able to notice if your used to drinking the same beer as in-date.
Otherwise there could theoreticly be an issue with the acids eating into the tin but I find this very unlikely: I have seen and even mistakenly bought cans of diet coke (sweeteners are just as if not more acidic then sugar) and its been a year or more out of date, the cans had not leaked. If it were possible for the cans to disintegrate at any rate its got to be a slow one.

Those are my reasonings anyway, I'd drink the beer (if I drank beer), its wasted otherwise and doesn't hurt to taste it all first. A month is nothing and I'm sure thats within the safty lee-way they'd probably allow.

PS it works great to make hair super shiney if you decide not to drink it! You could offer it to the women in your home/family or even yourself if you value that salon-fresh shine

Hi JennieWB

This is really helpful thank you I think I might try one and see what it tastes like if I decide against it I can always use it as a hair product as you suggest or beer traps for slugs!

Thanks again for your advice.

SJ

DuncanP

The_Miser wrote: »

Best before / use by: IFAIR this concept has been foisted on us by Brussels but is a licence to make money. Scott (of the Antarctic)'s tinned supplies were examined nearly a century after they were prepared and found to be in perfect condition. If, in 2008, manufacturers cannot make their goods as safe as those then we are being conned. I am not saying that food IS safe after it's use by date but do not assume that it is bad. Check how to kill the common bugs (a certain temperature for so many minutes) (use Google) and your nearly prehistoric BOGOF could be perfectly safe to eat.

I routinely use eggs up to 2 weeks after the reported use by date. They're easy to check - you just pop them in a bowl of water, and if they rise off the bottom, they're probably off. If the rounder end rises a bit, but the pointier end stays touching the bottom, then that usually means they are still ok, but may not be for much longer. Besides, they smell pretty bad if they're off!

Same with milk a few days out of date - I always smell it before chucking away.

Admittedly, it doesn't save much money, but every little bit helps, right?

hucker

Thought I'd compare the local supermarkets for prices. In the past I've assumed they are pretty similar, they both came to about the same amount for a weekly shop. But if you buy some things in one and some in the other....

Haven't tried Tesco yet, but comparing Morrisons to Asda:
Cornflakes - 70% cheaper in Asda!
Weetabix - 22% cheaper in Morrisons
Cider - 30% cheaper in Asda
Kraft pasta - 30% cheaper in Morrisons
Spaghetti - 28% cheaper in Morrisons
Milk - 33% cheaper in Asda
Deodorant - 40% cheaper in Asda!
Yogurt - 40% cheaper in Morrisons (and it's twice as tasty!)
Ibuprofen - 15% cheaper in Asda
Paracetamol - 18% cheaper in Morrisons
Crisps - 45% cheaper in Asda (and twice as tasty!)
Oranges - 33% cheaper in Morrisons
Pears - 25% cheaper in Morrisons
Razors - 20% cheaper in Morrisons
Chocolate - 20% cheaper in Morrisons (and twice as tasty!)
Strawberry Jam - 80% cheaper in Asda!!
Wensleydale cheese (a common enough breed!) - not available in Asda!

aveit

Has anyone else noticed that supermarkets are being more stingy with their green points. Used to be that you could claim at the very least double for bags for life. Now they seem to think 3 of their plastic bags equals 1 bag!!:T

I felt I was being victimised for 4 pence when I questioned their logic. I even went further taking the point up with a supervisor, who looked down her nose and still quibbled over what amounts to small change.

Am I alone on this, or should we be all packing our shopping into small plastic bags for Boots to make up the shortfall??

C'mon supermarket giants, you're not that short of money!:A

hucker

Not had a problem getting bags exchanged here. Asda, Tesco, Morrisons all do it without question. And I cheekily wear them out with non-shopping tasks.

What gets me is those pesky Tesco vouchers. I'd much prefer just to have cheaper goods in the first place.

aveit

Good, so hopefully not spreading. Just out of interest, let's see how far this stretches though. I'm based in Derbyshire and had this problem with 3 supermarkets recently. Where are you?:T

hucker

Central Scotland!

Jo65

Tesco Extra, Newbury, is currently running an offer of buy 2 Pro Flora Active products, take proof of purchase to the Pharmacy and they will give you a free Cholesterol Test. Think this offer is nationwide but obviously the store has to have a pharmacy as well.