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

mallada

I do pretty much everything mentioned in this thread as does my fianc! and we were born mid 80's, guess it all depends how you were brought up etc. But my kids will I am sure be fighting for cake mix also.

Scrape mould off cheese
Use eggs when i get round to them, have been known to do that float test thing but often don't bother
Eat cake mix all the time, as mentioned why else would you bother to make it
Eat foods past the date on the packet sometimes, but then again i throw it out before sometimes. All depends what it smells & looks like etc (Most people who throw away after use by will throw away if it smells bad early, so why not use that common sense to dictate when to throw it?)
Eat Cold Pizza the next day that has not been in fridge almost everytime we have pizza.
Eat cooked past that hasn't been in the fridge the next day also.

Just needs abit of common sense about it, i am pretty much never ill and have never taken time off any job ill. So must be doing something right.

cyberbob

mallada wrote: »

I
Use eggs when i get round to them, have been known to do that float test thing but often don't bother

If an eggs rotten normally you know without the float test as they are so much lighter than other eggs. I had one the other day (actually from 2 day old eggs) and it just felt so weird I new something was up.

[Deleted User]

Great thread. I do all those things and never get tummy upsets. This health and safety stuff has got beyond a joke. We are all capable of deciding whether something is seriously off and I'm wondering if half of the fear and guilt foisted onto us about these things is a clever ploy, to dis-empower the individual and to make millions for smirking supermarkets.

cyberbob

lilac_lady wrote: »

When I read the posts about using food after the "use by" date my phobia kicks in and I shudder. I'd save a fortune if I did that but somehow can't bring myself to eat anything past the relevant date. Am I the only one here with this money wasting habit?

Remember use by dates are only recommendations. If you grow your own veg or are given any what do you do about those without use by dates? The problem I see is that the past 20 years or so Home cooking has decreased as has teaching children to cook by their parents. So a lot of people lack experience handling and preparing fresh food so look to the Government and food standards agency, supermarkets etc to tell them.

A lot of it's just experience and common sense. Foods like Chicken you should never take risks with. Other foods you have far more leeway.

I was Lucky I was brought up in the 70s early 80s and my Mum and Grandmother taught me a lot of cooking as I was more interested than my sister was. So a lot of the basics I learn't from them.

Finally over the past few years people are learning that Fresh local food and homecooking not only can save money but is a lot tastier than pre packaged stuff. Its just a shame a large number of people missed out learning the basics of food prep in the 80s and 90s.

I personally find a lot of new cookbooks show lots of Fancy recipes but very few show the basics that these recipes need to be built on. Thats why I rhink looking for old cooking books is the way to go.

Sorry if that sounds a bit preachy I get carried away and its a subject close to me:D

dandy-candy

Lol!! Reading these has reminded me of other things I do too!!
I also pick the whiskers off old potatoes and use them unless the potato has gone green or "watery"
I didn't even know there were issues with reheating rice! I just pour a kettle of boiling water over it and wait until it feels hot enought to eat.
I have also been know to cut the mouldy bit off the bread and keep eating....
Eggs are always given the float test past their sell by date and I always find them fine even if they stand on end - just chuck the ones that leave the floor!
Dried herbs get kept until they have bleached out (usually a year past their sell by date), It's always a surprise how green the new jar looks...
Someone mentioned ketchup being kept in the cupboard and reminded me of years ago going to my grans and her unscrewing the metal lid of her glass bottle of Heinz ketchup and it flying up and hitting the ceiling!! We still used it though and it taste fine.

Keep the replies coming please - I'm loving these!

SallyForth_2

lilac_lady wrote: »

When I read the posts about using food after the "use by" date my phobia kicks in and I shudder. I'd save a fortune if I did that but somehow can't bring myself to eat anything past the relevant date. Am I the only one here with this money wasting habit?

That's part of the problem, those dates bear no relevance at all to the condition of the food, and are therefore, irrelevant.

nikki2804

guccigoo wrote: »

laughing at some of the things on this thread. I never use eggs before there sell by date, ive been known to have eggs in my fridge 3 months out of date. i keep tom sauce in the cupboard not the fridge also jam kept in the cupboard. I eat cold takeaway pizza the next day even if i havent put it in the fridge and im still here:)

Cold pizza is amazing!
I do all the stuff with the cheese and jam. I don't look at best before dates. I am a bit funny with use by dates though (although I generally sniff milk before drinking it)
I have eaten mouldy rolls - didn't realise it was green until I checked the rest of the bag - bit of an immune system boost!:rotfl:

Lol and I was a late 80's child and just a cheapskate!

southernscouser

I cooked, and eat, a chicken breast that seriously hummed. Within 20 minutes I had serious stomach cramps and was in agony.

3 days later I cooked, and eat, the other chicken breast in the packet that I had frozen and defrosted. Within 20 minutes I had serious stomach cramps and was in agony.

The moral of the story is, I am as daft as I look. :rotfl:

tbourner

I have no issues with eating old stuff, I had a Muller Crunch Corner that was 3 weeks out of date a few months ago!

Cheese is fine, mould only grows on the outside (cheddar).
Chicken I heard is the only meat that bacteria can grow throughout, which is why you can eat a steak 'blue' because as long as the very outside is seared it will be clean.

We have a friend who has a very real phobia of sick and being ill (bit of a strange phobia, but we don't make fun because it really is a nasty thing for her). All her food is burnt, we all have to check dates on packaging for her to make sure she's not reading it wrong, she got a pizza out the freezer once, took it out the box and noticed the clear wrap had a tear in the bottom - in the bin it went.

dandy-candy

tbourner wrote: »

I have no issues with eating old stuff, I had a Muller Crunch Corner that was 3 weeks out of date a few months ago!

Eww I don't think I would have pushed it that far!! :eek: