good news/bad news on co op cheese deal

outbidder

Was this the mature cheese Liz? They had it in my Co-op (a couple of full boxes in the fridge) and I bought 4 packs with no problem. We get through a lot of cheese so 1 day or 2 would not be a problem since it was still sealed.

Most people in my local Co-op are part-time workers anyway who couldn't care less as long as it scans through!

liz.._4

Thanks for the info guys, (it was the mature cheese outbidder). I bought a couple the day before and they are vacuum packed and I will eat them with no probs...maybe I'm more '!!!!!!' than you guys out there but I am flexible when it comes to 'sell by' dates, still here to tell the tale...

I just had to post as I feel its a waste of food and resources and IMO it re inforces the view that we are living in a nanny state. 'nuff said

kittykate_2

yeah it is but by law they can't sell it. imagine if you had bought it and then realised when you got home that it was out of date. Reckon you'd be pretty peed about paying full price (bogof or not) for an out of date product. they are just doing it for your own health and safety. What you do with your cheese in your own home is up to you. (wow, that sounds kinda rude ), I eat cheese thats gone 'off' a couple days before, as long as it isn't green and furry, and i'm still alive too. Just. :eek:

KatieKins

I work at Sainsbury's at the weekend and we have a lot of 'display until' items. I'm in charge of reductions on our dept at the weekend (oh the power...) and sometimes we get customers come up and say this is out of date I'll take it for 10p. As long as it is one or two days max then we always reduce it to 10p for them. My managers all do the same!

KatieKins

stpandp wrote:

Tho there was an article (?TV programme) some months ago about people who save money by going through the bins at supermarkets and use stuff that has been thrown away - not all "poor" people, but many middle class eco-aware types!

If you saw the sheer amount we chucked out in the skip you would be astounded! It actually is appalling when you consider the starving people in the world and how we chuck 1000's of £ out like it's nothing. If we dispose of around £500-800 a month that is considered ok and nothing really to panic about/ :eek:

netally

They were probably doing it to cover their backs. Some unscrupulous people might try to sue the co-op for making them sick!

carl_east

Surely cheese will last for ages longer than is on the best before date. I know it's dairy but all cheese is basically mould. So surely by letting it "mature" longer is will begin to taste stronger but not necessarily go off? One of my friends once got told by a cheese expert that you should specifically look for many types cheeses near their best before date because they will taste better.

bmth123

Edindevon wrote:

Out of interest, does anyone know if there is a legal difference between 'Sell By' dates and 'Best Before' dates.

I can see that some products are a health risk if you eat them after their expiry date, while others will simply be less than perfect.

The reason I ask is that I bought some imported beer from a local wine merchants the other day and the Best Before date was April 2006 and I am wondering whether I should warn him about potential problems with this.

Edindevon

a use by date generally is applied to products that become microbiologically unsafe within 30 days. It is an offence for a shop to supply or offer it for sale (not just sell) food after the useby date.
a display until date is a voluntary date put on food by manuf usually to assist them with stock control.
a best before date is put on where a use by date is inappropriate. It is not ncessarily an offence to sell after the best before date but the food must be still ok to sell (if it has gone off or become stale etc then there are poss offences)
I can understand the comments about nanny state etc but there are some vulnerable people out there whose immune systems are not as robust and other people who can perhaps not see clearly etc who may need protecting.
I was horrified to find my elderly grandmother a while ago tucking into food that was very mouldy--she has very bad eyesight & problems with taste. She had no idea what state the food was in but she is very frail and unable to read use by dates etc. It is down to relatives etc to clear the fridge of items that are well past their date!
Myself--i regularly eat items just past the date but then I'm not so worried as I'm not frail or weak etc...