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

gairlochgal

I'd trust my nose. Have eaten meat past its use by date, and equally have chucked meat that's within date but smells bad.

Larumbelle

I second gairlockgirl - trust your eyes and your nose. Especially if you bought it from a supermarket - they package their meat in a 'modified' atmosphere that prolongs the shelf life. I'll spare you the horrors of having worked on the labelling machine at a meat packing plant, but in general 1) the longest you can set use-by dates by are a standardised length of time from slaughter/processing that bears little on whether the food is likely to be good after this time, and 2) most supermarket use-by dates are well within this, partly becuase they want to minimise the risk of food 'in date' going bad on their shelves, and partly because they like to have so many for this date, so many for that date, even if it's all the same meat going through the labelling machine.

dorry_2

i don' t think i would eat them, you might risk becoming really ill, especially with pork!

MrsB_2

So long as they don't smell funny and so long as you cook them thoroughly they'll be fine. I'd maybe put them in a 'sauce' of some sort and bake them in the oven to make really sure.

paula7924

More food is wasted because of use by dates than you can imagine - if it is even slightly past its best you will know as it will smell (in the same way you can tell straightaway if the milk has gone off....).

Cook it properly (over rather than undercook if you are wary, especially with pork and poultry) and you will have no problems at all

wannabe_sybil

I think this may be the first post I've actually started, or it is a considerable time since the last one (or my brain is not functioning very well, which is the most obvious explanation )

I have a large piece of cooked roast beef in my fridge, wrapped in clingfilm. The meat was frozen when raw, but defrosted and cooked. I don't think I'll have time to get it cooked tonight as little bear is being a bit fussy still, and dear heart will not countenance eating it without some jiggery pokery which I do not have time for.

So could I freeze it?

I hope someone can help me with this, as it is a lot of meat to waste.

HariboJunkie

It would be better in a sealed freezer bag than cling film but freezing it will be fine. If you do use cling film just make sure it is wrapped up tightly.

butterfly72

I've found a big bag of rhubarb in the bottem of my freezer. It must have been there over a year. Do you think it will be ok to use in a crumble or is it just too old to be safe??
thanks

TomsMom

I've used rhubarb/gooseberries/blackberries that have been in the freezer for a year. Used them in crumbles no problem, still here to tell the tale

sarahlouise210

I have used it older than that ....:o I often forget what is in my freezer until long past its sell by date - we have never been ill yet!