Frozen food safety- misconceptions

seraphina

Conversely, I wonder how many people would eat something, no matter what, if it came in a wrapper and was still stamped in date:rotfl:

voiceofreason

Ben84 wrote: »

I don't see what's wrong with use by dates. You don't have to follow them. It's just that I quite like use by dates on things. I see them as a retailer's guarantee of how long something will keep and be safe and pleasant to eat when stored as suggested. When I'm shopping I want to know if the items I'm buying today will still be good to serve for lunch on Wednesday, or the chocolates in the sale will still be in good condition at Christmas, for example.

Use by dates shouldn't be replacing our ability to judge food for ourselves, but it helps to have a good estimate of their potential life. It makes it easier to choose what to buy and helps keep track of when to ideally eat it by. It makes sense if retailers guarantee their food to try and consume it within that time so that you can get your money back if it's not good.

Making it law for retailers to guarantee their food items was good news for consumers in many ways, I would not like to return to the days before then. I don't feel there's any tyranny to use by dates, they're putting pressure on retailers to supply good food, not pressure on us.

Besides, no use by dates would probably mean no reduced bin in the shop for things getting near their date!

Bang-on, sir!

I can't really argue with a mark on food that guarantees freshness or quality up to a date - and it should be remembered, when moaning about sell-by dates (as opposed to "use-by dates") that these are not for your information!!! Sell-by dates (or "display until") are there purely for the information of shop staff - it's the shop which should sell the product by date x, and the shop which should remove the product from display after date x. Where's the pressure on the consumer there?

As for use-by dates, these too are a useful guideline - this time for the consumer - as to the likely useful life of the product. Again, I can't argue with the concept; after all, they're there to provide guidance to the consumer.

A piece of legislation to provide clear guidance to the consumer, in an attempt to stop people from getting sick from bad food? Seems quite alright to me.

thriftlady_2

voiceofreason wrote: »

A piece of legislation to provide clear guidance to the consumer, in an attempt to stop people from getting sick from bad food? Seems quite alright to me.

No one is disputing their usefulness. The problem is that a lot of people are under the impression that 'freeze on day of purchase and use within 2 months' means 'will become toxic after 2 months'

A._Badger

Thriftlady is quite right - and herein lies one of the great dangers of nannyism: it erodes people's confidence in being able to make decisions for themselves.

Aeshna

What an interesting thread, I certainly learned one or two things today, so thanks everyone.

Re the best before dates on packing - I'm one of those folks who uses my common sense, rather than the date on the label. My ex hubby is paranoid and has unfortunately translated this to the kids, so I tend to do away with packaging asap - what they don't know won't hurt!

However, my point is this - a BIG part of the reason folk think something will go suddenly toxic on expiry of a best before date is that they honestly don't know any better. The amount of people who simply have not been taught/shown how to be sensible about their food is incredible. I have two kids at high school, and I'm appalled at the lack of basic information they're given in the Home Economics (or whatever it's called now) class. My kids now know how to make pasta/bacon/cheese or any mixture thereof. Pity help us!

Aeshna x

mustrum_ridcully

thriftlady wrote: »

I fear you are right Badger. We live in a society in which we are not trusted to make our own decisions about what is good for us.

Use by dates are good example of this. While they are useful (I like to know how long my milk is going to last before it goes off) they have rendered us incapable of making our own decisions about when food is fit to eat.

I remember a question a while back on this board asking whether it was safe to eat a swede that had gone past its use by date:rolleyes: Never mind why such a thing as a swede, a traditional winter veg grown for its storing qualities, should be in a packet in the first place , why was the owner of the swede unable to make up their own mind whether it was fit to eat or not?

Freedom from 'the tyranny of use by dates' (as Penelope Penguin has it;) ) is just one of the reasons I shop at a butcher, fishmonger, farm shop and why I make my own bread, yogurt and preserves.

Oh how true! Knowing a bit of German I've noticed that on quite a few things I've bought from Lidl/Aldi that the German versions of the labels don't actually give a "once opened eat within x days" message. Perhaps the Germans can be trusted to realise jam is safe to eat so long as it doesn't smell funny or have mould growing on it.

Don't get me started on refridgerate once opened, that seems to appear on everything now. I remember as a kid we'd keep stuff like opened jam, ketchup, even cooked meat (for a day or two) in the walk-in larder my parents had (it was probably only a couple of degrees cooler than the kitchen). The H&S lobby have even brainwashed my parents who despite being retired now have a fridge that's way bigger than the one when they had two kids living at home!

thriftlady_2

I thought this might be a useful addition to this thread. It's from the excellent Love Food: Hate Waste site


Here's what it says about food going off in the freezer

Food goes off in the freezer eventually and should be thrown out


False! You can keep food safely in the freezer for years, as long as it has stayed frozen the whole time, but it will gradually lose its quality and taste. But to avoid “stockpiling” plan to eat frozen foods more often so you don’t forget what’s in there and “rotate” foods.

Penelope_Penguin

thriftlady wrote: »

Why would you want to keep food in the freezer forever? Use your common sense and make a list of what you put in, package, label and date it properly and cross it off your list when you use it up.It isn't rocket science. Use your freezer as a storecupboard not a museum.

Spoilsport Everyone in the office was waiting with bated breath this week to see if my portion of Freezer Roulette lunch was soup or rice pudding :rotfl::rotfl:

Penny. x

zippychick

well , don't keep us in suspenders?

Which was it?

Great thread.

Penelope_Penguin

zippychick wrote: »

well , don't keep us in suspenders?

Which was it?

Luckily, it was apple and parsnip soup; rice pudding doesn't go so well with a bread roll :rotfl:

You suit the suspenders, btw

Penny. x