Haslet - Cooked Meat and Use by Date

Linda32

Hello all,

It appears that I have some haslet 2 days out of date (label says "use by")

Now this is how it has happened. On 2nd I went to Sainsburys and bought 3 slices of Haslet. Bought home and put in fridge. Today went to make a sandwich and label says us by 3rd. Now had I have known the use by date was that soon I wouldn't have bought it.

I bought from the deli counter where you ask for 3 slices or whatever, so what you see isn't dated until a label is stuck on with the price etc.

Would you still use it now?

A couple of things tell me its okay, 1, they had a whole piece of haslet there which the assistant would continue to slice pieces off, and I expect they are still slices pieces off that today.
2, Sainsburys have recently changed their packaging for fruit and veg to show just about the biggest date possible on any packaging, has anyone noticed? :rotfl: so are they just being over careful?

Thank you

Trow

I would use it, personally. Although I wouldn't feed it to children or the elderly or the sick.

joedenise

I think most supermarkets only give a couple of days when buying loose meat. My Mr T's certainly do but I just use the old fashioned "sniff" test - if it smells OK it probably is. I've certainly used Haslet several days after the "use by" date.

Denise

ladymarmalade

I generally ignore those on the deli counter and just check the meat for a funny smell/coating. I certainly remember eating them up to about 6 days after I'd bought them back in the student days. Also, haslet is full of preservatives and stuff so I can't imagine it will go off after a day!

mi_jardin

ladymarmalade wrote: »

I generally ignore those on the deli counter and just check the meat for a funny smell/coating. I

Ditto. As long as it has been kept in the fridge it will be fine. You will know when its off as it will start to go a slimey for want of a better expression!:rotfl:
I buy deli meats and they keep in the fridge from one week to the next. They are just dates to cover the supermarkets !!!! in case there is any come back!

scrabbles_2

When you cut a slice of meat you massively increase its surface area, and so massively speed up its exposure to air and bacteria, increasing it's likelihood of spoilage. Deli meats accordingly have a short use-by date. If you look on most packets of cooked meat, they tell you to consume within 2 days of opening - this is for the same reason.

Personally I would still eat it if it looked, smelled and tasted okay.

youngie

I agree with the other replies if it looks and smells ok it will be fine

Linda32

Thanks all for your comments, I shall bear them in mind for the future.

Magpye

Deli cooked meats from Sainsbury always have a two day life - the day the label was printed (day one) and the next day. The life of haslet, from opening to disposal, is 4 days on the counter. If you bought the product reduced (indicating that its life on the counter had run to its end) I would be wary about using it more than a day past the use by on the label.

In my experience with Sainsbury's product, they are very conservative when estimating the use by date and products will generally be good and fresh a ways past the use by.