MSE News: Food label guidelines shaken up in a bid to prevent waste

luckymannn

I can't EVER recall seeing display untill or sell by dates on food?!

I fully understand use by dates, that's nice and simple and I stick to those dates.

It's the BEST BEFORE thing that I don't like, everyone says it means it just won't taste as good or whatever. So if I kept an unopened pot of jam in my cupboard for 20 years, I could still eat it and it won't make me ill?

I am VERY nervous/paranoid about getting ill off food so usually as soon as something goes past the best before date I throw it away cos I am no good at making the judgement myself! 'Best before' stuff should ALSO have a use by date on it with literally the maximum amount of years or whatever that it's safe to keep for before it can make you ill.

johanne

The only way this is reducing waste is allowing the supermarkets a few extra days to sell fresh goods. Therefore maybe reducing THEIR waste (and therefore losses) As they can leave the older stock on the shelves for 2/3 days more increasing the chance the old stock will be bought, and meaning they do not have to bin food with 2/3 days more use in it but that previously wouldnt have been sold as its past its sell by date.

Thinking about it it could actually INCREASE consumer waste. As people may find themselves buying short shelf life products even closer to the "end" of their usability so consumers could see an increase in how quickly items "go off" as there is not the 2-3 "guaranteed" period between the last day you can buy them and when they are not to be used by!

The only dates consumers should "worry" about is Use By and Best before, and then they are only guidelines as lets be honest something doesnt magically go off at midnight on the turn of a date I always use common sense and use Use by as a guide only - but obviously some people dont feel safe doing this.

redglass_2

There was an expert on food hygiene interviewed on Radio 4 yesterday. Listeners were texting/emailing with their oldest food cupboard item - one woman had a bottle of gin from 1954 - and asking if they would be OK to use (he said yes to the gin, because of the alcohol, but pointed out that it might not taste very nice). He OK'd quite a few old items, mostly commonsense ones like alcohol and dried spices. But he did say that with things like meat, smell and taste really aren't reliable guides (I was disappointed as I tend to rely on them). There can be seriously harmful pathogens in there some time before the food starts to smell or taste funny. And I was thinking: as you get older, your senses are less acute, and you might not pick things up fast enough.

I don't think there's much confusion over 'sell by' or 'BB4' and I think this is just a cost-cutting exercise for manufacturers. If they wanted less waste, they could always a) stop overpackaging things (cheese portions are particularly bad) b) stop selling things in packs of 6 or more when lots of households in the UK have only one person living there, and c) sell things half price instead of BOGOF, so that we only buy what we need. I'd like to see more bakery counters where you can have one cupcake, or whatever, and can take it away in a nice recyclable paper bag, instead of shelves full of plastic packs of six cakes.

I_luv_cats

When I go shopping I use dates as a guideline to see how fresh something is. (they could well take the product round the back and stick a new date on it !!!) My local Morrisons 'chicken' seems to be off colour lately so I avoid it.

If I buy anything on special like bread / meat I'll freeze some to keep it good.

I'll eat 95% off anything irrespective of the date.

Why such a fuss with people, perhaps they buy too much on a big shop and end up having takeaways or fussy. (and food goes too waste!!)

My fridge erodes by the day so by day 5, 6 or 7 Mother Hubbard comes in mind!!!!

LizD_2

TBH even if a fresh/ frozen product is within it's dates, if it's not been stored properly you're still at risk.

Eco_Miser

lynzpower wrote: »

But its the "sell by "

And the "display until"

Both of which are usually a day before the 'use- by' date.

I have not seen display until or sell by on packaging for ages, there is no need, as there is a use-by. That reduces waste in itself.


This is a non story and a none event.

I would love to hear from anyone who buys a product in the next week with either of these two phrases on.

Most of the food I buy has both a sell by and use by date on. Both dates are usually the same, and are the day of purchase.
The prices are very much reduced.

Eco_Miser

luckymannn wrote: »

It's the BEST BEFORE thing that I don't like, everyone says it means it just won't taste as good or whatever. So if I kept an unopened pot of jam in my cupboard for 20 years, I could still eat it and it won't make me ill?

If the seal is unbroken and the glass and lid undamaged, the food inside is highly unlikely to be dangerous.
If it hasn't gone off in the 2 - 5 years between production and best before, why would it go off in the following 18 years?

luckymannn wrote: »

I am VERY nervous/paranoid about getting ill off food so usually as soon as something goes past the best before date I throw it away

Why don't you eat it before it reaches that date, if you are so concerned?

luckymannn wrote: »

cos I am no good at making the judgement myself! 'Best before' stuff should ALSO have a use by date on it with literally the maximum amount of years or whatever that it's safe to keep for before it can make you ill.

That date is unknown. Preserved food has kept for 4000 years without microbial contamination.

lynzpower

Best before is placed on low risk items. They will relate to quality, not safety.

Quality issues are stale, chewy not crisp, flat or whatever.

It wont harm you at all to eat stale crackers, slightly softer frozen veg or dried out bread.

anything with a use by date is different, the microbial load has been calculated to the date: anything still around after the use by date will have a microbial load that is likely to cause a health impact. ( e coli, salmonella, campylobacter, listeria)

Lip_Stick

Eco_Miser wrote: »

If the seal is unbroken and the glass and lid undamaged, the food inside is highly unlikely to be dangerous.
If it hasn't gone off in the 2 - 5 years between production and best before, why would it go off in the following 18 years?


Why don't you eat it before it reaches that date, if you are so concerned?

That date is unknown. Preserved food has kept for 4000 years without microbial contamination.

There was a street survey done on various foods, e.g. biscuits (gingerbread) and crisps, amongst others. Each person tasted an item, one which was within the BBD and one which was outside that date. The majority of people said that the food outside the BBD didn't taste as good, and had lost some of it's flavour. None of these people knew they were tasting food outside the BBD date, and in fact some were quite repulsed to find that's what they'd done.

So, although eating something outside of the BBD might not kill you, in a lot of cases you're getting a lower quality tasting product. You might be able to eat honey that's 4k years old, but it wouldn't taste half as nice as that which was produced recently. I know which one I'd prefer to buy.

martinjohn

ok after much reading i still dont understand what this new "law" or guidelines will actually change.