Buying Beyond Best Befores...official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

SandC

Ah I'm glad there are people like me around. My ex boyfriend actually snatched some strawberries in a punnet out of my hand and was about to put them in the bin cos they were 'out of date'. I asked him what on earth he used to do as a kid when he'd picked them himself??

I too am like most of you above. If I have meat approaching the use by date and I don't think I'm giong to use it before then I do freeze it, but that's because I've experienced chicken going smelly really quickly after the date on the pack. I so don't like wastage! Nothing wrong with cutting the mould off cheese and nothing wrong with using jars and cans that are years gone. I have never thought to check my salt actually, but it's only tub number 2 (small size) of Saxo bought in the last 15 years so doubtless I should have chucked that out some time ago.

Teabags as well - I'm not a huge drinker of tea at home so when they went out of date too I used them anyway. Nothing wrong with them.

I too (touch wood) have remained sickenly healthy for years and rarely caught any bugs. I can't remember the last time I had an off stomach actually. I really do think that the bacteria is good for you and helps build up an immunity things.

That is also the excuse I use for not bleaching every surface to high heaven.

creased-leach

Purely anecdotal of course but my OH used to deliver goods to supermarkets for a HGV firm. One of the runs would be the delivery of cheese which had been refused by the supermarkets back to a factory, for "reprocessing." The reprocessing consisted of cutting off the mould & turning it into kids cheese products. They don't tell you that on the packet :rolleyes:


The haulage firms mainstay was cheese. If they had a load in the yard over the course of a weekend, they'd turn the fridges off to save on diesel. There was also an occasion where a pallet of cheese spilt all over the muddy yard.....it was hosed off & re-stacked. Any product is only going to be as good as it's storage.

davidanddeirdre

I could write a book about food and durability dates. Remember the law is as it is as a compromise, and to make it easy for EHOs to prosecute the errant food business. The best bargain you will ever buy is out of code hard cheese- it has to have a durability code legally, but the older it gets the better it is! Sometime when I am less busy I will put down more detailed tips, all of which my family uses, we hardly throw any food away, and we rarely get ill with any infections let alone food poisoning.

kristina2

My best buy recently was Princes Coronation Tuna & Pineapple selling at 1p per tin from In-store - I bought 8 tins - am still eating it - BB4 date was end of December, had some for lunch today - still good ! My work mates are horrified - they can't understand how I survive as I'm always eating out of date stuff, yoghurts in particular for lunch - yet I'm the one who's NEVER off ill like the rest of them ! Is that what you call GOOD bacteria ??

dunhillbabe

On 5th January i finished some Sainsburys 'taste the Difference' Cranberry style coleslaw with a use by date of 24/12/08 (of course I got the other half to do a 'fizzy check' on it first!)

Celia_Fletcher

I clicked on your 'Approved Foods' link to look at a buying online site. It turns out to be someone called 'Crag's Cash and Carry'. You are meant to register, but I tried to at least 7 times, and it kept saying 'Mailbox unavailable. The server response was: 4.7.1 : Recipient address rejected: Policy Rejection- 274 -- Sender Quota Exceeded.'. Oh well, it was worth a try!

Stranger_Than_Fiction

Celia_Fletcher wrote: »

I clicked on your 'Approved Foods' link to look at a buying online site. It turns out to be someone called 'Crag's Cash and Carry'. You are meant to register, but I tried to at least 7 times, and it kept saying 'Mailbox unavailable. The server response was: 4.7.1 : Recipient address rejected: Policy Rejection- 274 -- Sender Quota Exceeded.'. Oh well, it was worth a try!

Approved Food have been on Radio 4, the FT and several other newspapers recently so non MSE'rs are finding out about them and I think their server is having problems coping with the massive increase in custom. Their service is second to none and their prices are really good so maybe try again in a couple of days. I think you can actually shop without registering but the website is probably still going to be busy. HTH.

driver67_2

Everybody here has, in my opinion, spoken lots of good sense... the thing that aggravates me most is HONEY having a BBF date! This lasts FOREVER! Honey taken from Egyptian tombs is edible for crying out loud. Just to think of all that honey that must have been thrown away by the unknowing amongst us... A while ago a woman on Johnny Walkers show was decrying BBF dates and said 'you've got a nose on your face haven't you?' That is good enough for me!!

minniemorris

Here's some info for you clever folk from the Food Standards Agency website ~ I find this quite satisfying as I too have always been of the opinion that 'best before' dates are a load of rot :rolleyes: !


"Best before

'Best before' dates appear on a wide range of frozen, dried, tinned and other foods.

The 'best before' dates are more about quality than safety, except for eggs. So when the date runs out it doesn't mean that the food will be harmful, but it might begin to lose its flavour and texture.

About a third of the food we buy ends up being thrown away and most of this could have been eaten. So think carefully before throwing away food that is past its 'best before' date.

However, you shouldn't eat eggs after the 'best before' date. This is because eggs can contain salmonella bacteria, which could start to multiply after this date.

And remember, the 'best before' date will only be accurate if the food is stored according to the instructions on the label, such as 'store in a cool dry place' or 'keep in the fridge once opened'.

So, if you want to enjoy the food at its best, use it by its 'best before' date and make sure you follow any instructions."



I love it :beer:

You've just got to use your head (and eyes and nose !).

I've just cottoned on to buying 'reduced' items and currently shop at Asda (they also have excellent petrol prices, btw :cool: ). The bargains and subsequent savings are fantastic ! I buy ready meals (as low as 50p) and stuff that you can freeze (I always check as there are more things that can be frozen than I used to think ~ even some smoked salmon we bought at Christmas!). How I wish I had space for a chest freezer...

In the absence of Asda, I found that Aldis was pretty interesting. If you don't mind non-mainstream brands, there are some bargains to be had.

Damaged tins are always reduced although there is absolutely nothing wrong with the contents... Tonnes of bananas are burnt regularly in South America as they do not meet the standards required by the buyers... I bet the list goes on and on :rolleyes:

We've become such a disposable, wasteful society. There are millions of people out there who would eat anything but, unfortunately, they don't live in the vicinity of those who are responsible for the waste

When I was a kid, we used to eat chickens that had turned green (not that I ever saw them, thank goodness!!!). My father was a health inspector (environmental officer) and so had access to a lot of condemned goods. He says, "as long as you cook it thoroughly, it's fine". Well, it must be ~ we're all still here ! (Not that I'd ever attempt that myself :eek: !!)

My husband recently gave himself a slight case of salmonella poisoning ~ he fried eggs that were only 3 days past the BBD!! Not something to mess around with..

Also, if you can be bothered, the longer the 'reduced' items are on the shelves, the more they are reduced. I have even witnessed a father and son team haggle with a shop attendant (at Sainsburys) while he was marking the reduced items! They came up with some very interesting arguments as to why he should mark them lower :laugh:

As for bread and fresh fruit & veg ~ keep it in the fridge - it lasts MUCH longer...bread, over a week (wheat and grain breads last even longer than those with more absorbent properties); most fruit & veg, up to 2 weeks (not bananas ~ these go brown in the fridge). And I buy long-life milk - cheaper and less waste (and you can soon get used to the taste ); jam - just scoop off the top layer of mould if it gets that bad ~ it's just penicillin, afterall!); I definintely keep eggs in the fridge; cheese, as airtight as possible (preferably wrapped as opposed to loose in a tupperware box)..

I'm really glad I found this thread :T

minniemorris

driver67 wrote: »

Everybody here has, in my opinion, spoken lots of good sense... the thing that aggravates me most is HONEY having a BBF date! This lasts FOREVER! Honey taken from Egyptian tombs is edible for crying out loud. Just to think of all that honey that must have been thrown away by the unknowing amongst us... A while ago a woman on Johnny Walkers show was decrying BBF dates and said 'you've got a nose on your face haven't you?' That is good enough for me!!

How very excellent :-D !!!