Archive:Quick Questions on food safety / sell by / use by dates

charliee_3

should be ok, as its unopened, give it a sniff/ taste and see if it looks split or manky...

Petlamb

I'm very much of the 'sensory' school of thought when it comes to working out if food is good to go or not... if it smells fine, looks fine and a little taster - if appropriate - then go for it!

PurpleSkies

Yesterday I ate a yoghurt that went out of date on the 10th and tonight I'll be having a steak pie that went out of date on the 9th. (Think I need to pay a bit closer attention to the best before dates!)
My theory is that as long as it looks alright, smells alright and tastes alright then it should be fine.

curly_cabbage

If its frozen i pay no attention the "best before" or "sell by date" if it'd fresh i simply frezze it if it hasn't already been frozen. The thing to rember is that Best befor and sell by are not meaning it will posion you if you eat it after that date just that the quailty will in their opinion not be at it's best. We eat alot of stuff after the sell/best befor but use your common sense and sense of smell and i don't think you can go far wrong.

CC

Taadaa

I do this as well.

But does anyone else remember Fiona Phillips on the sofa at GMTV complaining she felt sick because she hates wasting food so ate a yoghurt that was 9 days out of date? Now that I wouldn't do!!

bungle4x4

marks and sparks invented the sell by date, if i recall... its been a damm good invention, just think how much extra sales it has generated.

just eat the stuff.

kalaika

Taadaa wrote: »

...so ate a yoghurt that was 9 days out of date? Now that I wouldn't do!!

Last week I ate a yoghurt that went out of date on the 24th Dec. It looked fine, tasted fine, and so far doesn't appear to have had any adverse effects on me!

I've mentioned it on these forums before, but my wife's uncle used to live (many years ago) in the Faukland Islands. He has told us that some food was shipped from the UK to the islands and yoghurts were one of them. Of course, by the time they arrived at the islands, the yoghurts were always out of date so the choice was to either eat the out of date yoghurts, or not eat yoghurts at all! He says sometimes you would open one to find it was off, but on most occassions would be absolutely fine!

toni_

thanks guys, just finished making my cheesecake and it looks good i just worry , im trying to get past the whole sell by date thing but im worried ill end up poisining my family! im getting there though, used out of date cream today and out of date pastry yesterday to make 2 good meals, glad i didnt throw them away now.

[Deleted User]

Best before doesn't mean it will kill you the nxt day .Smell it if it smells o.k and tastes o.k. then it probably is o.k I grew up in the 1940s-50s and sell by dates were unheard of and I'm still here.My late husband once found an orange bobbing in the water off Cowes front during the war and snagged it and took it home to his Mum.She washed it and used every bit that she could as oranges were almost unobtainable in those days because of restrictions He lived till he was 70 without any ill-effects . Use the nose that you were born with that is what its there for.

Frugalista

I keep a small notepad by the fridge and, as I'm putting the shopping away, just jot down the name of the item and the use-by date eg. Bacon 15/01, Minced beef 14/01, etc. Rip the page off and stick on the fridge door with a magnet or two. Then, as I use each item up, just cross it off the list. Simples .

Since I've been doing this I have cut down enormously on the amount I throw away as the list is there at eye level every time I open the fridge door, and no chance of anything getting pushed to the back and forgotten. I'm not paranoid about use-by dates and regularly go over them - but it does help to keep my eye on the ball :cool:. HTH