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

Wee_Jo

JackieO wrote: »

My old Mum always said that the reason you get mould on jam is because you use the same knife as you have used to spread the butter with and its the residue from the butter that starts it off getting mouldy

Good fact JackieO (or JackieO's Mum!) - thank you!

mardatha wrote: »

If it mattered so much then nobody would have lived past the Dark Ages !

Well said, Mardatha! :T

Sara784

I eat raw cake mix, its definately the reason to make a cake! Apart from that, i'd eat jam if it didn't have TOO much mould to scrape off, same with cheese, i eat stuff that i've dropped as long as its not too gross...i have iron guts!

Kevie192

dandy-candy wrote: »

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 no problem with most of the things on here... My mum always did it and so do I! Like others, I use my senses when it comes to out of date items and I've never once had food poisoning.

However, please please please don't risk it when it comes to rice! Rice contains spores of Bacillus cereus bacteria which won't be destroyed by the initial cooking. So, if you cook the rice and then leave it laying around at room temp you'll end up with bacterial growth on the rice and toxins created which won't be destroyed when reheating and will cause food poisoning.

So, it's really important to make sure you cool rice down as quickly as possible after cooking and then re-heat until it is piping hot throughout.

I don't want this to be a lecture but I have seen so many people falling very very ill from no knowledge about how to cool and reheat rice.

Kevin x

Wee_Jo

Kevie192 wrote: »

I have no problem with most of the things on here... My mum always did it and so do I! Like others, I use my senses when it comes to out of date items and I've never once had food poisoning.

However, please please please don't risk it when it comes to rice! Rice contains spores of Bacillus cereus bacteria which won't be destroyed by the initial cooking. So, if you cook the rice and then leave it laying around at room temp you'll end up with bacterial growth on the rice and toxins created which won't be destroyed when reheating and will cause food poisoning.

So, it's really important to make sure you cool rice down as quickly as possible after cooking and then re-heat until it is piping hot throughout.

I don't want this to be a lecture but I have seen so many people falling very very ill from no knowledge about how to cool and reheat rice.

Kevin x

Wow, I didnt know this. Thank you for the tip!

Jo

ralloctiger

welll, I am scared of reheated rice but not much else I often leave things out the fridge and reheat and eat. Infact cooked pots go slimy if you put them in the fridge!
Pots with sprouting bits are fair game as are any sad veg. I never wash fruit and try not to think of all unwashed hands touching it from orchard/ field to shop. urgh.
I was told that onions shouldn't be kept for next day as they atract bugs apparantly some people put a cut onion on the windowsill if the person has a cold in the house. I have never heard this and we are still alive??
as for chese and jam it is never in the fridge long enough to go mouldy. hahaha
My thinking is use your common sense never mix raw and cooked meat clean your chopping boards everyday ( good old vinegar) and wash your hands regularly:)
stay safe
xx

freakyogre

I generally use my common sense and can tell by sight or smell if something isn't right. Like others, I must be doing something right as I haven't been ill for many years. I also never wash fruit and veg unless it has obvious 'dirt' on it.

I stayed at one of my colleagues house the other day and we got on to this topic. I said that I don't go by dates at all, but she is completely the opposite. She said she bought a lasagne a few weeks ago, but then decided to have something else for dinner and when she came to eat the lasagne it was one day over the best before date so she felt she had to throw it away. I said it was probably fine and she'd probably be able to tell straight away if it had gone 'off' but that's just how she is, which is fair enough.

When I was there, I picked up some peppers from the shop and left them there. She forgot to bring them in today which is fine, but then asked when they'd go 'off'. I said they'd be fine for ages until they go wrinkly (actually, even then I still use them, but I didn't tell her that )

A few people have said it's linked to their upbringing in the 70's, but I think it's down to the person to be honest. I'm 25, the colleague I mention is 40.

The only thing I tend to smell everytime I use is milk and that's just a habit really as I even smell it when i've just opened a new bottle (there's nothing worse than ruining a cup of tea!)

B00

I sooo didn't know about rice!

Last week, I cooked rice, left in a pan to cool, then shoved it in a tupperware, left it on worktop then finally took it to work the day after and re-heated it in the microwave. No ill effects so far, however if you don't hear from me in the next few days.....

katieclampet

I never realised eggs had a use by date
I have a 10 second (ish) floor rule
I have scrapped mould of cheese, jam and bread and always been fine
I didn't know you were meant to keep ketchup in the fridge
I always thought use by and sell by dates were a rough guide, (as long as it looks, smells and tastes ok)
I am almost never sick!!

katiex

Justamum

ralloctiger wrote: »

I was told that onions shouldn't be kept for next day as they atract bugs apparantly some people put a cut onion on the windowsill if the person has a cold in the house. I have never heard this and we are still alive??

I may be wrong, but I think this is just an old wive's tale. I've had cut onions in the fridge for days before I finally get round to using them. Sometimes the inside bit starts sprouting from the middle again as if it's just been planted, so it's obviously still 'alive' (unlike your dead animal which starts to decay as soon as it's killed :cool:).

mardatha

If you leave a cut bit of onion on the windowsill it stops flies coming in. I do this all the time and I very rarely get a fly in the kitchen.. they must hate the smell of onion