M&S Use by dates

geordie_joe

moonrakerz wrote: »

There was a programme on television a while ago where a TV reporter was eating stuff that was WELL, WELL past its sell by/eat by dates.

Some of it looked absolutely disgusting - I would have thought twice about even putting it in my dustbin !

He suffered absolutely NO ill effects. The food was also tested in a lab and this showed no signs of anything harmful in the food.

Human beings have survived without fridges and preservatives for thousands of years. We can eat food even when it is rotten and it won't effect us.

The problem is, since food became cheap and we learned to keep it fresh we have developed a liking for only the best.

moonrakerz wrote: »

We have gone completely over the top on this subject -

I agree. It's partly health and safety going over the top and partly the manufacturers wanting to sell more. They put put short dates on things so they don't get sued if someone gets ill eating them the day after the use by date. And also to make us either use the product or throw it away. The sooner you use the product, or throw it way because it's past it's use by date, the sooner you will go out and buy another one.

moonrakerz wrote: »

why does my jar of pickled onions tell me to keep them in the 'fridge after opening ? - complete and utter stupidity !

To defend them selves in court if you claim they made you ill. If you didn't keep them in the fridge, then you didn't follow the manufacturers instructions, therefore the manufacturer can't held responsible.

My local health food shop sells packets of Brazil Nuts. They come in a clear plastic bag, so you can see what they are. They have the words "BRAZIL NUTS" in large letters on the front of the packet. They also have the words "WARNING: May Contain Nuts" and "HEALTH WARNING: Packed in a factor that processes nuts".

I buy them quite regularly, and eatch time I pick a packet up I look at the "WARNING: May Contain Nuts" and think "It better had, that's the only reason I'm buying the packet".

Ginger_Snap

Samwardill- I sympathise with you and agree it does seem rubbish of supermarkets not to mark down their produce that is about to go out of date. I bought sausages from Asda earlier this week, forgetting to check the date (which is easily done when you have a big shop) and realised today they went out of date the day after I bought them. I threw them away, as I wouldn't want to risk it with meat.

chesky369

......I threw them away, as I wouldn't want to risk it with meat. ......

Good heavens - didn't you give them a good sniff first? That's what noses are for!

moonrakerz

geordie_joe wrote: »

To defend them selves in court if you claim they made you ill. If you didn't keep them in the fridge, then you didn't follow the manufacturers instructions, therefore the manufacturer can't held responsible.

In my book that is still "complete and utter stupidity" ! If it ever got that far I really think a Judge might well agree with me: Vinegar has a longer and better history of preserving onions than 'fridges ever will.

A true example of the lunacy that we suffer;
My daughter used to manage a motorway service area shop - won't say which one, but its initials were M & S !
At 10 o'clock at night (when she closed) she had to throw away flowers which had just gone out of date that day - even though the flowers were "guaranteed" to flower for 10 or 14 days after purchase.............she used to put them in her car and take them to the local Hospital and old folks home. I don't think they ever thought of taking her to Court

geordie_joe wrote: »

My local health food shop sells packets of Brazil Nuts.

I buy them quite regularly,

Chocolate ones ? My absolute favourite:T:T

samwardill

HouseHuntr wrote: »

So you're not really bothered that it's close to the use by date, you just wanted them cheaper and would have then probably used them after the use by date! Does getting them cheaper mean the quality will improve ? No I thought not !

Double standards ?

Absolutely I have double standards. If I pay M&S price for meat I expect quality. My expectation of quality includes having more than 24 hours to consume it (without having to check use by dates on everything I buy). I am sometimes prepared to expect a lower standard (and limited shelf life) but not at the same price!

bcl999

Simple answer is to vote with your feet. Since M&S started charging for carrier bags in the food section, I actively avoid them if I don't have one with me.

chelms38

Several times I have seen food on shelves for sale that has gone past its sell by date not reduced and I think this may be due to some(not all)of the young staff not checking dates before they stack shelves.You never hear of those freegan people becoming ill after eating out of date food.

moonrakerz

samwardill wrote: »

Absolutely I have double standards. If I pay M&S price for meat I expect quality. My expectation of quality includes having more than 24 hours to consume it (without having to check use by dates on everything I buy). I am sometimes prepared to expect a lower standard (and limited shelf life) but not at the same price!

I am afraid that your argument becomes more self contradictory with every post you make ................

1. You are totally unwilling to accept that food past its "sell-by" date is still perfectly safe to eat.
2. You state that you expect to have more than 24 hours to consume it after purchase.

I have to presume therefore that you are totally in favour of "dating" food. This brings the Law into play. The Law operates in black and white, there are no shades of grey:- the Law says the food DOES turn to poison at midnight - even if it actually doesn't. At one minute to midnight the meat is "legal" - two minutes later it is "illegal".
If you don't like the Law, write to your MP.

How do you get more than 24 hours to eat it ? Several methods - one of which works !
YOU read the dates on the pack. (I find this works well for my requirements - if I buy 2 litres of milk I make sure the date on it isn't tomorrow's !)
OR, The Law makes it an offence to sell an item which has less than 24/72/96 hrs left on its "sell by" date - but of course this cannot now be called a "sell-by" date any more. BUT the Law says that meat must have a "sell-by" date NOT a "best before" date.........(This is real Alice in Wonderland stuff now)
OR the "sell-by" date is made even shorter which, of course, still means that you can buy food with less than 24 hrs life on it........ so you make the "sell-by" date even shorter......etc, etc, etc..... (this would make life so much more easy for M & S, eventually the shelf life would be so short that they could take it straight from the delivery lorry and throw it straight into the skip !)

You cannot have it BOTH ways. If it is labelled with a date - the Law decides.
If it doesn't have a date, you take pot luck.

Join the real world that the rest of us live in !

shoppaholic_returns

I'm afraid M&S are notorious for having really short sellby/use by dates.

I regularly have to sort through stuff that has one day left until its use by. At xmas it seems to get even worse, you certainly cant buy anything a few days before xmas because of the dates,personally I now ignore alot of them, as I think its a ploy around xmas to get customers in on a regular basis buying stuff and picking up that little bit extra that they MIGHT, but never do need!!

torchie

Surely a supermarket should only reduce goods if they think they are not going to sell them by the close of business, not just because of the date on them. If a shop has 30 of an item with a use by date of today but in an average day they sell 50 of them, then if they have any kind of commmercial common sense, they will not reduce them.

This culture of yellow-ticket reductions is creating greed amongst some people and probably those that need the reductions the most because of their personal circumstances are the ones least able to be at the supermarket at the 'magic time'.