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 Should Tyrone & Molly serve picky guests out-of-date food?

wildthing01

most freezers (and my old Dairy Book of Home Cookery, won in a tombola in about 1980, and still my cookery bible.....) give maximum times you can keep frozen foods, (usually up to 6 months for the most safe foods) for various foods and state that food frozen for longer than these times may not be safe to eat. it's not a case of the best before date, it's generic food safety - a pie of any sort is unlikley to be still safe to eat after 2 years in the freezer, and at the very least will taste stale. i make judgements about food past its date all the time, and would eat stuff myself that i wouldnt serve to friends, simply because if by some chance they did become ill, i'd never forgive myself..... what if sally is unknowningly pregant, or has some unknown medical condition making her more at risk of illness from unsafe food?????

wildthing01

ps - is sally still with kevin?? i thought she'd gone off with that car salesman? its a looong time since i saw corrie

pineapple

Yet another post from me on the subject - I am just so SAD.....
Someone pointed out it might be a fruit pie. Well spotted! I would be less worried about that.
The point about defrosting the freezer was also a good one. Has the pie been in the same freezer for TWO years? If so, was it not defrosted during that time? If it was meat, did it do a partial thaw before going back in? Ewww...
Bottom line is I probably engage in all sorts of dodgy food practices. But it's just me and I'm probably immune now.....:T .
However, Sally might have a delicate tum. You don't take the same risks with visitors. Even if not actually unsafe, the texture might be shot.
There again it's Sally. So go for it!

Ladyhawk

Seriously people - get a grip on reality!!

Having worked in the food industry for quite a few years - this is the last thing that you should be worrying about. Have you ever seen how meat is aged? Its perfectly safe but has a thick layer of mould growing on the outside which is just trimmed off to reveal gorgeous deep red meat. I have visited many, many farms, factories and processors all over the world and to be honest I have been put off many many processed foods but it has also revealed how over sensitive and misinformed the general public is when it comes to modern food... not their fault it is just the way it is.

All these people that are saying its a health risk - its not as long as it has been kept frozen all this time. You are far more likely to get food poisoning from not washing your hands before preparing the meal than because something is out of date (best before or sell by).

Get on with... serve it up... and enjoy your relaxed evening with friends.

I'd probably serve because she was such a fuss pot! (where's an evil smilie when you want one??)

freelancemermaid

either they are friends with these people...or they're not. shouldn't we all be respectful of, and caring about, our friends?

sometimes food is ok after the date...and sometimes not. risk yourself if you want to, but to risk a friend without telling them is rather mean, IMHO

Augustus_the_Strong

I can't believe that anyone who bothers to read a money-saving website is daft enough to throw away perfectly good food just because it's past its sell-by date. There's a wide margin of error built in. Use your own judgement - you can tell if something's gone off. So much food must be wasted in this way. I'd eat a pie that had been in the freezer for two years, though it looks a bit mean to serve it to a guest.

RadoJo

My step dad would tell people that he doesn't eat things past their BB date, but my Mum's record for feeding him freezer discoveries is a 12 year old ratatouille (to no ill effects I might add)! I wouldn't even know how old some of the stuff that I have eaten is as it wouldn't occur to me to check the date of something in the freezer - I check that it's not been damaged, discoloured or dried out by feezing and if not, then it gets eaten regardless.

Cloudane

Augustus_the_Strong wrote: »

bothers to read

Thing is, many of these lot don't. I keep seeing the difference between 'use by' and 'best before' explained, and how it's only a risk if it's past 'use by'. And then immediately after someone posts up with "I wouldn't risk it" :rolleyes:

cashconsciouscolin

No chance - 2 or 3 days of vomiting/diarrhoea/ and associated weakness and feeling like crap - inc. time off work and other commitments is hardly a risk worth taking just to save a few pence on the pies- you should try that bit harder with food preparation and presentation when guests are expected - not look to offload pies 2 years past expiry -
how much energy did keeping the pies frozen cost over 2 years?
sounds like the pies cost more than just their sticker price.
Fit for the bin and not worth the risk.

before_hollywood

in all fairness i am like this, if i have something in the fridge that is out of date i will bin it and my housemate tells me off cos i waste food :eek:

i have the constitution to stand it but dont want to waste a day spending it on the can