HELP! Just cooked cous cous meal-just noticed packet says use by end Sept 06

janthemum

Yesterday I got some excellent advice from yourselves about how to do something to make with the cous-cous lurking in my cupboard.

I was greatly inspired and have spent this afternoon preparing stuffed peppers with filling cous-cous and a bit of onion, chilli, garlic and sun dried tomatoes.

Arranged them in a dish and sprinkled over a bit of mature cheddar.

Put it in fridge to save it for when OH returns from work at 8 o clock and had a quick look on the packet.........AND HORRORS OF HORRORS it says use by 6 months ago.:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Will it be alright do you think, it tasted fine to me even if it was a bit stale I thought the cheese may hide the taste! but dont want to poisin me or DH. I cant face throwing it.

Wht should I do??

Thanks

janeawej

if it was dried product you used it will have been a 'best before' date which means it is quite safe to eat may just not be at its best in terms of taste/colour ect so dont worry and eat it! in fact probably best not to tell oh!

janthemum

Thankou so much for answering and so quickly as well.
Think I may just "forget" to tell DH and add a bit more strong cheddar.

Thanks again.:beer:

JillD_2

I regularly forget to tell OH that things are out of date as well, and to date have not poisoned us! With dried things I tend to think they are ok unless they lok very very dried out IYSWIM. Hope it tasted nice.
Jill

janeawej

I presume you have eaten it by now did you tell dh it was a bit past its best?

Jayar

Oh Dear!
Jan?
Jan?
JAAAAN?

angelatgraceland

I reckon its ok even though Im fussy regarding dates. Its dried and doesnt contain fat so it wont taste yucky. I used an out of date casserole mix today and I know thats ok. Done this many times. If it was a couple of years then no but just sssssshhhhhh.

janthemum

Well "we" ate it tonight when OH got in from work.
When I say "WE" I mean he had it and I had a token spoonful:rolleyes: saying I wasnt too hungry.
He was happy though as he got to eat the two stuffed peppers and I had also stuffed 6 mushrooms with the cous cous mixture as they neede using up.
I think he thought it was his birthday, as I then made an OS stew (using the wilting veg at back of fridge and lentils.)

So I think it all went down well; but he did go to bed rather earlier than normal after eating the meal....

Ill tell him tomorrow and hopefully he wont go:eek: and laugh about it!

Justamum

I've used out of date stuff plenty of times before. The oldest I used was just recently - a jar of bilberries my mum gave me when she was clearing out her cupboards. They should have been used some time in 2001! They looked and tasted fine though. Manufacturers have to put a use by/best before date on things, but in a lot of cases the date is arbitary and irrelevant. They can just make people panic.

Mr_Proctalgia

It isn't common knowledge but manufacturers are legally allowed to repackage some foods and redate it after a sample has been checked as OK. There is a firm near me that specialises in redating stuff and repacking it. Dried, bottled, canned, jerked, salted and pickled stuff should theoretically last forever. It may not look and taste quite the same but in general terms is safe to eat. However, manufacturers always play safe with their use by/ best before dates (Well they have to really).

looneyleo

I think as long as you use your common sense when dealing with past sell-by/use-by dates you should be ok.