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

scrimperjan

Thanks everyone. In the sensible area of my brain I think you're probably all absolutely right, but the Lobes of Panic can't help remembering what my friend was like when she had salmonella....eeugh, nasty! And it does get pretty warm in my car 'cos it's parked in the sun (you know, that big yellow thing we used to see in the sky in Spring).

So I've managed to put myself off the forgotten eggs...just like my daughter, who has put herself off minced lamb by likening the taste to old man's sweat. How would she know that? Doesn't come into it. She's a teenager, so she knows everything, duh!

noonesperfect

And anyone over 30 is "old" to a teenager! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Bungarm2001

I know this has probably been discussed here before, but here goes...

I managed to get hold of some very cheap duck breasts recently (a rare treat in our house!) and fancied roasting them with a glaze made from Hoi Sin sauce. I knew I had an unopened jar of it in my cupboard, so I didn't buy any.

Well, when I went to open it, to my horror I found the 'best before' date was august 2001!! I opened it and apart from being a bit thicker than it had a right to be, it smelled okay, so I used it.

Duck was delicious, but...I threw the rest of the sauce away!

What would you have done?? How old is too old for a jar or anything else in the cupboard for that matter??

JailhouseBabe

If it tasted okay, I'd have kept it - but probably tried to use it up quickly. I was having a conversation with friends last night about hoe evrything has a use by date now - when I found a jar of herbs in a cupboard recently with no date on, I knew I must have had them a long time.

mary43

I get a bit suspect about this 'sell by date' issue........years ago we didn't have it and I wonder if its a bit of a ploy to make us throw stuff out and buy more. Normally if stuff looks ok and smells ok we use it.

Pitlanepiglet

I'm a bit hypocritical on this one! If I find something in my cupboard that's out of date I'd look/smell it and use it if it was OK. When I clear out my Dad's cupboards I bin everything that's over a year out of date without checking it - I don't trust him to be sure it's OK before eating or using it.

donny-gal

Smell it, taste it, - if it doesnt reek awful, taste off or has mould on it I would use it.
DG

Farway

If it is sealed in jar or tin I ignore dates, they keep forever.

They may not taste quite as the manufacturer intended perhaps, but certainly will not poison you

juno

I would throw it away, but not because it's out of date. It's more that if we haven't used it in the past 7 years (well, probably longer as they have long dates on) then we probably won't need it sometime soon.

sparklygirl1

will they be ok to eat? They would be for me OH and our toddler. Is it safe?