Do you follow Use by and Sell by Dates, and other food safety issues

purpleivy

Shocking_Blue wrote: »

Eating meat that’s over the sell-by date:

With this I’d be really careful. I avoid unmarinaded/unspiced chicken pieces that are just one day or less before the sell-by date. I often had to return such items as they were off. Marinaded or spiced chicken pieces are a different issue as the marinade/spice usually contains salt which acts as a preservative. I’ve eaten such items even when they were one day over, but not more.

Pre-packed steaks (rump steak, fillet etc.) can sometimes look really nice on the surface but may be discoloured and smelly from underneath. The problem is that you can only smell and inspect them when you’ve removed the package. One trick I use (if I know I really want the item) is to poke a tiny little hole into the cling film and press the air out and smell it. If it’s good, I take it. If it smells manky, I make the hole really big to deter others from buying it. I'd still avoid eating it after the sell-by date though.

I'm really rather careful about meat which even is close to or on it's sell by date. The reasons for this are because

a) I've had meat which even though isn't at its date has been off. You have no idea how the food has been kept. Theoretically during manufacturing temperatures have to be kept at a particular level. I have it on good authority that there may be thermometers in each area of a plant and as long as the average is OK then that will pass on some systems. Thus, milk, say which has been left at the door of the dairy waiting for the truck may achieve a much higher temperature than is desirable and also you can't tell what supermarkets are doing with it, THis is one reason why the length foods keep OK can vary so much .

b) you can't always tell whether microorganisms are present in meat or any other food. The ones that smell give you a warning, but the worst ones don't give you that warning. If meat smells you're fine, you know to throw it away. Generally speaking the microorganisms in meat will make you rather ill, compared with other things I think.

I would hate to be responsible for making my friends and family ill. Maybe my catering background and training (Yes, OK it was a while ago!) have always made me over cautious, but I would much rather chuck a small amount of food out occasionally if it seemed 'iffy' rather than make people poorly.

purpleivy

Shocking_Blue wrote: »

Same with me. I remember times when sell-by dates on fresh foods did not exist and you had to rely on your senses to decide whether it was still edible or not. On the other hand, a sell-by date does not guarantee that an item is still fresh and edible, so using your common sense and inspecting the food makes sense anyway,

Yes, but not all microorganisms are detectable to the senses. E.g CLostridium botulinum.

Not everything will be destroyed by cooking either, some organisms have spores that are heat resistant.

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/B/bodystory/bad_danger.html this is quite interesting and informative

Shocking_Blue

I think, for the purpose of shopping, smell and appearance of meat are fairly good indicators for freshness. As a consumer, that's all you can rely on, really. And it's probably more reliable than the sell-by date. Secondly, when it comes down to preparing the meat, consumers have to be aware that meat which is a few days old will be teeming with microorganisms on its surface, so its important to handle it appropriately and to get it thoroughly cooked. There is, of course, still a risk that despite all these procedures bad microorganisms may survive and make you ill. Question is how often this happens and if it typically happens in private households. I would not be too paranoid about it.

Psykicpup

Years ago I stopped buying chicken at Tescos as it always seemed to go off before the use by date (yes I returned it & claimed the money back:money: - in fact they said to just bring the label as some really stunk:eek: )
Now I dont shop there at all unless I REALLY have too (ever since the give up supermarkets for Lent thread:A )
I buy meat from a butcher & lets face it no butcher is going to have stinky meat in his shop now is he?! :cool:
& veg & fruit I buy at a local market/s - so now dates on any of that either :rotfl:
I'm sure that shopping this way is healthier & seems to be cheaper too:j
I certainly dont fret about dates - even on cheese I look & smell first

only thing I am careful of is fish & seafood...... but dont buy that in a supermarket either :rotfl: so I try to buy on the day I will eat it unless its frozen (had some horrid salmon frozen fillets tho_pale_ )

Shocking_Blue

sallyrsm wrote: »

Oh and I should say that I have eaten smoked bacon a couple of weeks past the use by date.. I figured as it was smoked it'd be safer.
It tasted fine and I didn't get ill....

I had smoked salmon yesterday that was one week over (reduced item from Morrison's, gone down from £ 3.99 to 19p. Was still in perfect condition (taste, smell, colour, consistency).

LumpyCustard_2

I don't do much date-checking in my kitchen at all, really. It only gets chucked if it smells or tastes bad or has gone mushy, and the point at which this happens seems has little to do with the little date stamped on the packaging. The only things I am more careful with are fresh meat and fish, and those usually get bunged straight in the freezer when I buy them (which is very rare anyway), so again, nothing to worry about until I defrost them.

cheletastic

Hi

I've just gone through my cupboard and found tinned pineapple, tinned peaches and tinned rice pudding that are past their bbe dates. Do you think they'll still be ok as I hate chucking things out?

Thanks

Chele:rolleyes:

exlibris

cheletastic wrote: »

Hi

I've just gone through my cupboard and found tinned pineapple, tinned peaches and tinned rice pudding that are past their bbe dates. Do you think they'll still be ok as I hate chucking things out?

Thanks

Chele:rolleyes:

As long as the tin hasn't blown i.e. bulged out, they should be OK AFAIK Tinned food was designed for the troops and was kept for ages.

trying-very-trying

Shocking_Blue wrote: »

Cheese: Cheddar, Cheshire, Stilton and other “hard” or "cuttable" cheeses can easily be consumed beyond the sell-by date provided that you still like the taste. When kept for VERY long Cheddar, Cheshire etc. develop blue mould, which is the point at which I definitely throw them.

I agree with everything else, but am I really the only one who cuts the blue mould off the cheese.
I just tell the kids it's penicillin in it's raw state it won't do them any harm, but I do cut it off.

nick_b

trying-very-trying wrote: »

I agree with everything else, but am I really the only one who cuts the blue mould off the cheese.

No, I do the same! My Mum used to do it as well and I turned out alright...