When opened eat within 3 days?

theGrinch

I use my prize winning nose

frugal_shopper_2

lindseykim13 wrote: »

Out of choice though, i'm more concerned that there are people possibly reading this thread who will then go away and think it is perfectly safe to eat their 7 day old cooked chicken.

It is not adviced by food safety sites to keep cooked meats for more than 3-4days based on studies. I'd rather follow those-being someone who suffers from digestive problems i have seen the life long effects food poisoning can have on someone.

Those are US food safety guidelines based upon the climate & typical perfomance of domestic refrigerators & freezers in the USA whereas every single course I have to attend to maintain my own food safety qualifications is based upon UK & European guidelines. 7 Days is correct under UK/EU guidelines.

sassyblue

adouglasmhor wrote: »

I often see people buying meat that is obviously blown in supermarkets, the packaging is inflated and they still buy it and I presume eat it.

Oh god no way would l buy that.

Thanks all, l always buy sausages with the highest meat content and they've not been sat around - always refrigerated and minimal time out when l'm making lunches.

DS was fine thanks

3 days is the maximum l go with using up leftover meats.

Mojisola

theGrinch wrote: »

I use my prize winning nose

And the majority of the time, your nose will keep you safe.

Unfortunately, some of real nasties that make us ill don't make the food smell bad so a modicum of common-sense needs to be applied as well.

If food is kept sitting around in the car before getting put into a fridge, if it's left on the worktop in the kitchen so it warms up before getting put back in the fridge, if people handle it without washing their hands, it's not going to stay safe for as long as if it was kept cold and clean.

Georgia_Pa

I would very rarely eat anything that has been opened for more than 3 days as surely the colour would start changing, it would look dried out and feel sticky? If this isnt what your sausages looked/smelled/felt like then you'll be ok. The wrost that could happen would be a tummy ache. Don't worry too much, super markets love being over the top with the sell by, eat by, and consume by dates.

MavisTheMaven

My 82 year old father in law quite often eats ready meals that are 2 or 3 weeks past the use by date. Even ones with prawns in!

He thinks it's hilarious that we are worried about him. Even my dog won't touch the leftovers.

I've tried to point out that he may as well eat out of bins, but he hasn't eaten an in-date meal for months, years even, he buys too many and insists on eating the oldest one first. He has never been ill though.

I've given up speaking to him, just try to sneak the worst ones out to the bins when he's not looking.

I don't follow use by/sell by dates myself, I'm not as bad as him but I use those green bags from Lakeland to make my veg last longer (never have to chuck any away) and I use my nose and look at stuff.

sassyblue

Lady_Muck wrote: »

My 82 year old father in law quite often eats ready meals that are 2 or 3 weeks past the use by date. Even ones with prawns in!

OMG!! he must have a cast iron stomach

Although our 80+ year old neighbour never had a fridge and left her chicken on a marble slab covered with a dish - she ate the leftovers and was never ill, even in the height of summer. She once told me she found maggots in the meat but just ate from a different part of the chicken and it still never made her sick. Gross though. :cool:

MavisTheMaven

It was a bit worrying when his cleaner rang me when he'd gone on holiday. The meals were so out of date they'd exploded in the fridge. She had to clean it out and says it was, 'disgusting.'
He played merry hell with me when he got home and realised she'd chucked them all away.

shahedo

It's a marketing thing by the food-corporations! You have nothing to worry about! ^^

dasophster

I used to buy sausages from a small producer in the Home Counties somewhere, they were not sold in sealed packaging but in a tray with cling film on, so they were never really 'unopened' from the start. The compant looked into how long their products would safely keep and their use by date from production was 2-3 weeks, they had preservatives in but supermarket sausages would contain much more I would think. Some foods don't technically go off they may just become more and more sour until they are no longer nice to eat, natural yoghurt and buttermilk are examples of these. Even the coconut milk yoghurt the manufacturer says really it can last quite a bit beyond the use by date and once opened for considerably longer than 3 days but there are certain labelling guidelines they have to stick to and the dates are a conservative estimate. In the past I have used buttermilk about 20 days past the date, it was fine xx