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

Tibbie's_mum

Thanks for everyone's replies.

I'm not worried about throwing it away and wasting a couple of quid. What upsets me about chucking it, is that it's food that I would be wasting. It looks fine, no greeny sheen to it, and as I said it is vacuum packed. I often use things past their 'use by' date, much to the annoyance of my OH who accuses me of trying to poison him, but this is a bit past my limit.

I'm going to give it a sniff and if OK, I'm cooking with it.........should there be no more posts from me, you'll know I should have left well alone!!

zippychick

Hi Tibbies Mum

Now you have your answer, I have added your thread to the existing one on Food Safety to keep all the information together.

Thanks
Zippychick

Tibbie's_mum

zippychick wrote: »

Hi Tibbies Mum

Now you have your answer, I have added your thread to the existing one on Food Safety to keep all the information together.

Thanks
Zippychick

Thanks Zippychick.

Well, both myself and OH survived the bacon. It smelt fine, so I fried it off with a leek and an onion, added some wine, flour, milk and red lentils and stuck it in the oven topped with dumplings. OH thought it was scrummy....little did he know!

An out of date smoked sausage is the next one on the menu.

losingpatience

I have found a jar of homepride garlic and herb potato bake in my cupboard but it has a best before date of November 2009. Will it still be ok to use or should I not risk it? Looking at the list of the ingredients it has double cream in which is why I'm in two minds so thought I would ask the more knowlegeable people on here what they thought

Thanks

denton6

I think it will be fine, open jar and give it a smell. i would use it aslong as it smells ok.

phizzimum

I would use it - after all it's a best before date not a use by date (even if it was I'd prob still use it but that's me!)

companies use these dates to protect themselves as flavours will deteriorate with time - so you might eat it and think it didn't taste wonderful, but you couldn't complain if you'd eaten after the best before date.

you might worry about the cream but there must be plenty of preservatives of some kind in there for it to be used in the sauce at all.

wssla00

Yeah I would use it but then again I have a cast iron constitution. If you think Approved food and places like that sells out of date stuff if its just the Best before

PurpleSkies

I used a packet of creamy peppercorn sause mix a couple of weeks ago that went out of date in Dec 2008 and I'm still around to tell the tale! I usually make my own sauces hence why it had been sitting there for so long.

I'm with denton6, if it smells ok I'd go for it.

nicoc

Just to add my 2 pence worth, I'd go for it to. I found all sorts of things lurking in my cupboard the other day like sauces etc past tehir best before and they were all fine.

[Deleted User]

Yes definitely the 'nose test' if it smells o.k. then it should be o.k. I have survived for many years ignoring any date on any goods. I am a great believer in using commonsense.If the product has double cream in it its hardly likely to be 'fresh' double cream anyway or it wouldn't be in a jar or tin.I have even used an old tin of Nestles cream before now that was supposedly 'out of date' by 9 months and had no ill effects whatsoever. But then I always smell things first before I use them anyway.