Buying Past It's Sell by Date Food

cymrubaby

I bought a Crusha milkshake ready made carton at Tesco a few days ago and pierced the top with a straw ready to give to my 20 month old son and saw the 'Use by' date was 15th January 09 - a month out of date!!

I refuse to give a milk product that far out of date to my child so I emptied the carton and took it back to Tesco next day. Just to see if there were anymore there I had a look on the shelf where I got it and found a whole TRAY of the cartons with the same 'Use by' date of 15th January 09.

Tesco gave a refund of the 69p I paid but didn't seem at all fazed when I pointed out that there was a whole tray full of them still on the shelves. I was just told 'Oh OK, i'll go and get someone to make sure they get taken off'. I hope they did because these drinks are aimed primarily at young kids and the thought that my son could have drank gone off milk makes me feel sick.

cymrubaby

coolagarry wrote: »

I consider that the 'best before' etc does not apply to frozen or tinned food (within reason) I would have no qualms eating your baked beans and would expect the taste to be the same - its bugs that put food off and there aren't any in a tin... if there were the tin would swell, in which case eating the contents would probably kill you :A

Did you read, a couple of years ago, about the old man who ate a tinned whole chicken that was given to him and his wife on their wedding day as a gift about 50-odd years ago?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4693520.stm
This is the link to the story of aforementioned man.

He said it made a lovely meal and still tasted good. Not sure I'd go that far but it proves that dates are only put on tins as a matter of food manufacturers covering their backs. I'm fairly certain the beans would have been fine. A quick smell and taste would have confirmed it.

jaytin

Was it fresh milk or UHT milk? The UHT milk is treated and packed differently so it will not go off as fast. Fresh milk obviously would have to be used up very quickly. Did it have a 'best before' date or a 'sell-by/use-by' date? If it had a 'use-by' date or was a fresh milk product, then yes they definitely should not be selling them! :eek:

cymrubaby

jaytin wrote: »

Was it fresh milk or UHT milk? The UHT milk is treated and packed differently so it will not go off as fast. Fresh milk obviously would have to be used up very quickly. Did it have a 'best before' date or a 'sell-by/use-by' date? If it had a 'use-by' date or was a fresh milk product, then yes they definitely should not be selling them! :eek:

Not sure if it was UHT milk - I'm assuming it was because it wasn't stored in a fridge - it was on the shelves of the desserts (tinned desserts and trifle packets) and custard aisle.

However, it did indeed say 'Use by'.

nesssie1702

cymrubaby wrote: »

I bought a Crusha milkshake ready made carton at Tesco a few days ago and pierced the top with a straw ready to give to my 20 month old son and saw the 'Use by' date was 15th January 09 - a month out of date!!

I refuse to give a milk product that far out of date to my child so I emptied the carton and took it back to Tesco next day. Just to see if there were anymore there I had a look on the shelf where I got it and found a whole TRAY of the cartons with the same 'Use by' date of 15th January 09.

Tesco gave a refund of the 69p I paid but didn't seem at all fazed when I pointed out that there was a whole tray full of them still on the shelves. I was just told 'Oh OK, i'll go and get someone to make sure they get taken off'. I hope they did because these drinks are aimed primarily at young kids and the thought that my son could have drank gone off milk makes me feel sick.

If the item was on the ambient shelving, then I doubt if it would have been marked with a Use By date. It's down to poor stock rotation by Tesco but it's highly unlikely that the milk (most likely to be UHT) would have made your child ill.

It's the same with baby food in jars that have gone past their Best Before date - highly emotive for the parents, but it won't harm the child.

babs2008

I always used to avoid eating foods after their use by - I still don't think I would do it with most seafood or meat (luckily I don't eat much of either).

Now I'm quite happy to eat something past it's sell be as long as it looks, smells and tastes like it should. In my experience you can usually tell.

For the last two days I've had some houmous that's dated use by 13th Feb, and I'll probably have some more tomorrow (17th).

brownboxes

TravellingAbuela wrote: »

In the Yorkshire/Lancashire area there is a group of shops called Jack Fultons (also called Fultons Foods) who sell lots of fresh/dried/frozen goods approaching their best before and use by dates. I have had lots of bargains there. In the current financial climate it is one of the busiest shops in town!

This is a great shop, I always used to shop here when I was a student in Leeds. Unfortunately they closed the shop in headingley, they used to sell Ben and Jerry's for a pound sometimes when they had been discontinued, a staple student food . But there is one still in Leeds Market (well there was last time I was there a year ago).

Leeds Market is great for shops like this and have a few that will sell food after it's best before pretty cheap.

There is a website online called Cyber candy that sells cool foreign sweets and they do a mystery parcel of after best before products much cheaper then the original price though still expensive in the grand scheme of things.
I'm always tempted just for the fact it's a mystery parcel of sweets

Rick38

When I first started working in retail, dry packages grocery items had no 'best before' dates on them, only perishables had a date. Canned goods will last for years and years. In fact, I remember canned fruit only being removed from the shelves when the seam of the tin started seeping the contents!
In reply to others who ask if I would not eat something early the next day after the use by date expires, of course i would use common sense. I would not eat chicken, pork or fish, however beef is fine as long as you use your nose!
However, as i have worked in supermarkets for well over 20 years, I usually avoid buying reduced to clear fresh items solely because I know how many times and usually how long the items have been in and out of refrigeration during their lifetime.
My wife says I am just being picky and paranoid, maybe she's right!

nesssie1702

We should trust our senses a little bit more than we do - it's as obvious as the nose on your face!

With raw meat, then any bugs that are on it will be killed off when its cooked, but if it doesn't smell good to start with, then cooking's not going to improve that.

How did our parents and grandparents ever manage without dates on things to tell them when it was okay to use?????

cymrubaby

nesssie1702 wrote: »

We should trust our senses a little bit more than we do - it's as obvious as the nose on your face!

With raw meat, then any bugs that are on it will be killed off when its cooked, but if it doesn't smell good to start with, then cooking's not going to improve that.

How did our parents and grandparents ever manage without dates on things to tell them when it was okay to use?????

Do you know what? It's my grandparents who always go on at me to give food a 'few days grace' when it comes to fresh foods and I'm quite certain they give meat an extra day or two after the 'use by' date. I don't think they eat fish after the 'use by' date though.

My nan always says that you just have to use a bit of common sense. She says back in the days when butchers, fishmongers and grocers were used every day, most people just bought what they needed daily and so didn't need any guides as to when you had to eat them by. She also says that it was more or less obvious you couldn't eat something by the taste, appearance and smell - Grey beef? Green bread? Very pongy fish? :rotfl:

I suppose it is all just common sense when it boils down to it. I will admit though that in this fast-paced world where we bulk buy or do needless massive shops then it's handy to have a guide on the packaging. I'm guilty of over-buying and not budgeting properly and so I often have to check dates on things as I can never remember when I bought them. Not only that, but I do buy more than I should so at the end of each shopping week I'm often left with a lot of stuff that hasn't been eaten.

Methinks I should perhaps plan our meals a little better .