Do you check best before/use by dates before you buy?

dorsetlady

I am curious because I see so many people just pick things up, in the supermarket, without even looking at the date. :eek:

Just as well I looked today as I was in a large supermarket and picked up a pack of beef slices - the date was 19 August! I then went into another large supermarket and they were selling Hovis bread dated best before 21 August! I once found a multi-pack of crisps, in a freezer shop, that were nearly 8 months out of date! These are not isolated incidents either!

What's the most out of date product you have spotted?

DCFC79

Yes i do but i dont go rumaging through the shelf for longest life. Well saying that i like to make sure i get bread and fruit with the longest date but i only go to certain lengths to get these.

Money_maker

Yes and I do go rummaging through the shelf for longest life!

frugal_shopper_2

Anything beyond it's use by date should be picked up at the checkout, a couple of months ago I picked up a drastically reduced beef joint in the Co-Op didn't notice it was 1 day over the use by & it still looked perfectly good but when it was scanned the till came up with a message saying it was past the use by date so they couldn't sell it to me, they apologised & said they can't sell it & asked did I want to go & get a different product then they sent someone to check the shelves to make sure there were no more on display.

Best before dates mean very little except in the case of eggs but most shops only offer items past the best before dates at reduced prices. If you spot items past the date & mention it to an employee then they should go & clear the shelf & either reduce or discard them depending on the shops policies.

julietiff

:)

Money_maker wrote: »

Yes and I do go rummaging through the shelf for longest life!

Same here, unless I am barain hunting in the reduced stuff:)

judeee

I always check fresh stuff/meat/bread etc (perishables) in the shop and look for the best date, tins etc I check at home before using. But yes, I check everything and have also had some dodgy stuff! Mainly stuff I didn't choose myself, like in deliveries. Had organic lemonade 8 month out of date from Asda and popcorn kernals four month past from Tesco. Fair enough, they probably wouldn't have killed me, but I was charged full price both times! Which isn't cool.

valk_scot

I check everything. I'm not fanatical about using up food I've bought before a BB date expires but if I'm not going to bring short coded stuff into the house to date expire before I'm going to use it. Unless it's reduced of course! As for Use By dates I'd rather get as long as possible on these to give me leaway time at home too. I like value for money and that includes getting the freshest item on the shelf.

Kitty_Ears

I check things like milk, bread, yogurts and eggs. I won't buy them if there's only a day or two.

Middy

My ex worked for a supermarket - was part of the Big 4 and not Sainsburys. When he was stocking up the bacon chiller after it was broken, he found a packet of bacon 3 months out of date! It got trapped at the back somehow.

Middy

With milk, if I am buying 4 pints, got to have at least 8 days on the bb, 2 pints - 4 days.

browneyedbazzi

I look out of habit...

Worst out of date product I've come across in a shop was while doing an inspection for work and I found bacon in the chiller that was green and nearly six months past use by. Checked the tins and dry goods on the shelves and there were nearly 100 items more than 2 years past best before. :eek: