MSE Poll: Do you eat food past its ‘best before’ date?

Former_MSE_Karl

Poll started 5 December 2017

Do you eat food past its ‘best before’ date?

This week the East of England Co-op joined the likes of online retailer Approved Food and others in selling food beyond its 'best before' date to try to reduce waste

When you find food at home past its best before, what do you do?

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Did you vote? Are you surprised at the results so far? Have your say below. To see the results from last time, click here.

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jackieblack

It says 'Best Before' not 'Poisonous After'.
Perfectly good food does not become immediately rancid on the stroke of midnight on the 'Best Before' date!

Nick_C

I will often eat food food past its use by date as well. Some of the dates are ridiculously cautious.

Stercorum

A best before date is and probably can only be, at best, a pessimistic approximation. I personally reckon it helps sales. Am I being negative? Not really, more like realistic. You certainly know if an apple has had it and if the bacon smells iffy, it probably is. I rarely even look at the BB dates. I know when something is off or not worth eating just the way I did 60 years ago. Just because I am ageing, doesn't mean I'm stupid.

Carrot007

I tend to look at food stuff before deciding it is edible or not.

I have had Veg within it's date liquify though no fault of mine, must have been stored bad before getting to me.

Likewise it being past the date does not worry me in and of itself. Do checks like people have always done.

BBE dates have to be cautious as it gives the consumer reason to complain if it goes bad before then.

LesU

A best before date will not be applied to the sort of foods that go rotten quickly. It will be put on food that is subject to a gradual deterioration over time.
How the food is kept and how it is packaged will make an enormous difference to the quality of the product. Best before is always a best guess at the food's longevity.

Bogof_Babe

I find it bemusing that you can often find bread, cakes, pastries etc., which are dated "best before" the day it is at the time, and not reduced. e.g. I could buy a loaf today that is "best before 5th December", which would imply to me that it should have been sold before midnight on 4th December.

They should really reduce things that are on their "best before" day.

Anthorn

The major problem with the Eastern Co-op's actions is that it makes the selling of out of date food respectable and carries the implication that out of date food is safe for us to eat. The other implication is that we cannot complain about out of date food we buy being bad if we are told at the time of purchase that it is out of date. Whether it is safe or not depends on how it is stored. I do eat out of date food but only that which I have stored myself. I would never even think of buying it.

What it all means of course is that less food will be donated to community projects such as food banks and that's a cause for concern.

Nick_C

Anthorn wrote: »

The major problem with the Eastern Co-op's actions is that it makes the selling of out of date food respectable and carries the implication that out of date food is safe for us to eat.. .

It depends which date you are talking about, and it is important to understand the difference between the two.

Food that has just passed its best before date is usually perfectly safe to eat. But it may no longer taste as good as it did previously. Crisps, biscuits, flour, tinned goods, could all fall in this category.

Official advice is not to eat food that has passed its use by date, as it may be harmful. Personally, I would happily eat cheese or beef after the use by date, also cured meats such as bacon and chorizo. I would probably not eat chicken or pork that was out of date but more than a day or two. I try not to throw food away though. Think of a use by date as a freeze by date.

Of course, many people don't store food properly. I keep my fridge at 3C. The safety of food will depend on how it has been stored as well as how long it has been stored for.

Owain_Moneysaver

If they abolish best before dates there will be far fewer reduced-for-quick-sale reductions.

I haven't bought any bread that wasn't reduced-for-quick-sale in about 10 years.

Bogof_Babe

Anthorn wrote: »

What it all means of course is that less food will be donated to community projects such as food banks and that's a cause for concern.

I heard on a news report about this scheme that food banks etc. won't or can't take out of date food because they are not allowed to redistribute it.