MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Tyrone & Molly serve picky guests out-of-date food?

pippinpuss

I've eaten food from the freezer whne it has gone over the BBD & can't tell the difference. So how could anybody else. Hide the box

wendyA2

If Molly doesn't feel guilty carrying on with Sally's husband Kevin, then I don't think she will feel too guilty serving her old pies!:rotfl:

Stampede_2

There seems a conflict between what is set out in the details where the term 'best before' is used and the headline wording of 'out of date food' is used.

My understanding of food regulations is that 'best before' is only an indication of when a product might be at its very best in terms perhaps of flavour, texture and similar. It is not automatically illegal to sell or use a product beyond its 'best before date'. In using such a product common sense must be used to decide if beyond ' best before' means that it is no longer safe to use or no longer nice and tasty. If I'm wrong no doubt someone will advise me.

If a product is likely to have adverse health implications when it is used after a certain date and life span it would and should be labelled with a 'use by date' which I would expect to see on a meat based product.

This seems a case of what you don't know won't hurt you. For years we had a friend who swore he'd never touch a drop of alcohol but loved our home made 'sherry triffle', 'tiramisu', christmas puddings, etc. etc . and our big freezer is packed with own grown poultry, veg and fruit, lots of which I'm sure the commercial 'best before' dates had they been applicable would have expired. Perfectly safe and tasty.

So where does that leave us. The friend who says she never uses something beyond ' best before' seems she is wasting the planets resources but that's another dilemma for another day. I have no problem with the menue, sounds like a cosy get to-gether meal and yes, if the situation applied and I was confident in my freezer and domestic arrangements I'd probably use the pies discreetly making sure if need be that the packaging was re-cyled away from curious eyes.

:j totally debt free and ( following my late Mum's advice ) enough money in the bank for that rainy day when the roof needs repairing.

mippy

lunelli wrote: »

Would any money-saver chuck out cheese (instead of scraping it off) that has a film of mould on the outside and then go and buy Stilton? Apparently it's a different mould, but would you know?.

Have you ever eaten bad cheddar or Brie, or Mozzarella? Trust me, you know.

JayD

They are perfectly safe to eat - so why the fuss?
Molly didn't notice the date until it was too late - which is not the same as deliberately intending to serve pies past their best before date to Sally.

mippy

welshgirl78 wrote: »

This is an insane debate in my mind... the food is FINE, if thats what you want to give your guests then serve away. I bet there are friends who only eat free range eggs, chicken etc in their own house but when you go for dinner you eat it (surely?)

If I had a friend who was really against factory farming or battery eggs, I probably would ensure that what I served them was free range - or I'd cook something else. Personally I feel guilty buying battery eggs, but that's my personal view and I don't expect anyone else to get free range just for me if I go round there.

mippy

Stampede wrote: »

There seems a conflict between what is set out in the details where the term 'best before' is used and the headline wording of 'out of date food' is used.

My understanding of food regulations is that 'best before' is only an indication of when a product might be at its very best in terms perhaps of flavour, texture and similar. It is not automatically illegal to sell or use a product beyond its 'best before date'. In using such a product common sense must be used to decide if beyond ' best before' means that it is no longer safe to use or no longer nice and tasty. If I'm wrong no doubt someone will advise me. .

I saw my local Spar selling Lurpak two weeks after the best before, with a 'Reduced to Clear' sticker on it. I might have used it were it in my own fridge, but to sell it that 'out of date'?

lamp

I personally would quite happily eat those pies if after they had been baked they looked ok. However, if my friends have explictly stated their eating habits, I will respect them. I may raise an eyebrow at them for refusing perfectly acceptable food. But I have to respect that others will raise an eyebrow at me being a vegetarian.

We all get on a lot better if we respect each others wishes and desires!

Justamum

mippy wrote: »

I saw my local Spar selling Lurpak two weeks after the best before, with a 'Reduced to Clear' sticker on it. I might have used it were it in my own fridge, but to sell it that 'out of date'?

A 'best before' date doesn't mean that something is fine one day, and then the day after the BB date it's suddenly gone off/gone rancid/will kill you. The date will be quite a bit before it goes off. Also a best before and use by are completely different things. Spar wouldn't have been allowed to sell anything past its use by date, but can sell things reduced if it's past the best before date.

Katie-Kat-Kins

It is a best before date not a use by date and the pie has been frozen! Serve away!

To be honest I wouldn't even look at the date on something a pulled out of the freezer so would serve it up guilt free.

Sally won't be able to "tell the difference" unless she sees the box. Fussy wasteful behaviour anyway binning food due to the BB date.