Supermarket 'Sell by' and 'display until' dates are wrong!

carrie483

Use by:

You will see 'use by' dates on food that goes off quickly, such as smoked fish, meat products and ready-prepared salads.

Don't use any food or drink after the end of the 'use by' date on the label, even if it looks and smells fine. This is because using it after this date could put your health at risk.

For the 'use by' date to be a valid guide, you must follow carefully storage instructions such as 'keep in a refrigerator'. If you don't follow these instructions, the food will spoil more quickly and you may risk food poisoning.

'Use by' does not always mean 'eat by'. If a food can be frozen its life can be extended beyond the 'use by' date.

But make sure you follow any instructions on the pack – such as 'freeze on day of purchase', 'cook from frozen' or 'defrost thoroughly before use and use within 24 hours'.

It's also important you follow any instructions for cooking and preparation shown on the label.

Once a food with a 'use by' date on it has been opened, you also need to follow any instructions such as 'eat within a week of opening'.

But if the 'use by' date is tomorrow, then you must use the food by the end of tomorrow, even if you only opened it today.

As quoted from http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/labellingterms/useby/

nearlyrich

I don't take too much notice of the sell by and use by dates, we just ate some cheese that was reduced on it's last day for sale last week, cheese is mould how can it get any worse?

andrewmoorcroft

Carrie483. Thanks for clearing this up. The food agency web site has several date label guides. Here goes: (my quick interpretation!)
'Display until' and 'sell by' are for the shops and staff to use for stock control. They are not for the consumer.
'Best before is usually to do with loss of quality over time but most products are not harmful soon after this date.
'Use by' is the important one. Don't eat after the END of this date is the official line. This gives an extra 24hrs on top of the technically correct meaning according to the oxford english dictionary.
It GUESS it's up to the policy of the shop if they want to sell/reduce before, on or after the 'display until/sell by' dates as long as they don't sell after the end of the 'use by' date.
I don't know why they changed the labels from when they used to say 'use by the end'. These words leave no doubt. I think most people have carried on using this understanding without giving it a thought when they shortened to 'use by'.
Perhaps they wanted to save some ink!

carrie483

I was looking in the reduced section of my local tescos the other day and sitting there with a reduced sticker on was a pack of prawns and they were black. I didn't get to see the use by though as i was too busy heaving.

I would love to meet the person who put the reduced sticker on them.

Carrie

andrewmoorcroft

carrie483 wrote:

I was looking in the reduced section of my local tescos the other day and sitting there with a reduced sticker on was a pack of prawns and they were black. I didn't get to see the use by though as i was too busy heaving.

I would love to meet the person who put the reduced sticker on them.

Carrie

On xmas eve i went into a supermarket that was selling chickens at £3.90 each or 2 for £5 (multibuy save £2.80). I picked up a pair reduced to £1.40 each (£2.80 in total). When i paid they still applied the multibuy and they became totally FREE!!!!

Can you guess what happenned next?
I went back round the shop looking for reduced multibuys including another 14 chickens! I added some more 'normal shopping so it wasn't obvious when i paid so little at the till. I ended up with meat at a face value of £125 and only paid £13 for it!!!
I'm now clucking mad!!! lol!!!

aj2001

yes agree they hav all sorts of rubish at reduced price even meat at tescos the only thing i dont like is somethings the labels are ripped or badley damaged and i feel for people who buy stuff especialy eldry ppl.
once i saw they had fruit slices they were all leaking and noway would you eat the mellon slices and squashed grapes. yuk

carrie483

andrewmoorcroft wrote:

On xmas eve i went into a supermarket that was selling chickens at £3.90 each or 2 for £5 (multibuy save £2.80). I picked up a pair reduced to £1.40 each (£2.80 in total). When i paid they still applied the multibuy and they became totally FREE!!!!

Can you guess what happenned next?
I went back round the shop looking for reduced multibuys including another 14 chickens! I added some more 'normal shopping so it wasn't obvious when i paid so little at the till. I ended up with meat at a face value of £125 and only paid £13 for it!!!
I'm now clucking mad!!! lol!!!

So you either had loads of people round xmas day, have a very large freezer OR loads left over?? :rotfl:

What did you do with 14 chickens??

Carrie x

andrewmoorcroft

carrie483 wrote:

So you either had loads of people round xmas day, have a very large freezer OR loads left over?? :rotfl:

What did you do with 14 chickens??

Carrie x

That's why i'm asking about use by dates. They say use by the 26th Dec and they're stinking my bedroom out even though i've switched the heating off! Do you think the'll be OK if i cook them well? I thought they would be OK in a curry. If you pop round i'll give you one! Cheap i know!! lol!!!

Seriously though I have a fridge/freezer in the kitchen and a big freezer in the garage especially for bulk bargains and free chickens.

quoia

carrie483 wrote:

I was looking in the reduced section of my local tescos the other day and sitting there with a reduced sticker on was a pack of prawns and they were black. I didn't get to see the use by though as i was too busy heaving.

Sorry to disappoint and shatter your illusion BUT ............

... THAT'S THE COLOUR RAW ONES SHOULD BE !!!!!!


They're only "pink" once they've been cooked.

I buy "black prawns" very frequently!

carrie483

andrewmoorcroft wrote:

That's why i'm asking about use by dates. They say use by the 26th Dec and they're stinking my bedroom out even though i've switched the heating off! Do you think the'll be OK if i cook them well? I thought they would be OK in a curry. If you pop round i'll give you one! Cheap i know!! lol!!!

Seriously though I have a fridge/freezer in the kitchen and a big freezer in the garage especially for bulk bargains and free chickens.

lol.

If they look ok then i don't see there being a problem (BUT if you get food poisoning - don't blame me lol)

Carrie