Use by dates????

missk249

Can anyone confirm what the policy on "use by" dates are? Am I right in thinking that an item that has a USE BY date should be sold before that date and should usually be reduced for quick sale?

Eg: A cake or loaf of bread or fresh sausages or a carton of cream etc, had a Use By date of 27th November and I am in the shop at 9pm (1/2 an hour before closing time) on the 26th of November should the item be reduced as it has to be "used by" the 27th, and therefore the should not be selling it the following day?

Sorry, that sounds confusing, but I dont know how else to word it at the moment.

I know a "best before" date means it is best to be used before the date stated, but does not mean it WILL be spoiled before that date, so can still be sold as "out of code/ or past best before" and the consumer then has the choice to decide whether or not to purchase it and take the risk of it being spoilt.

But what exactly is meant by USE BY? Am I right in what I said above? - And if I am correct in what I am thinking, should a shop NOT be selling items with the said date (eg a Use by 27th on the 27th as it has passed being BY the 27th?)

Sorry, when I can't sleep I come up with weird and wonderful thoughts in my head, and i was just thinking of my trip to Morrisons the other day

Zara33

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Sorry but some people need to get out a bit more if this is the kind of things that keep you awake.

pulliptears

Stores aren't obliged to reduce anything, its a courtesy. An item with a use by of say November 30th will have to be taken off sale at midnight November 30th.

People pay far too much attention to Use By's and Best Before's. Most foods cope perfectly well days even weeks after their dates. I rarely pay attention to them other than with things like fresh chicken. I have eggs in my cupboard that went out of date November 1st, they are perfectly edible.

People buy in to this idea that bang on midnight on the use by date the food will implode into a furry heap of mold and bacteria.

missk249

lol, no, that was not what was keeping me awake..... Bad pain problem and cant sleep at the mo, and just crossed my mind when I was reading another post.

But I know what ya mean, would really be strange if it was that that was keeping me off my sleep! haha

missk249

pulliptears wrote: »

Stores aren't obliged to reduce anything, its a courtesy. An item with a use by of say November 30th will have to be taken off sale at midnight November 30th.

People pay far too much attention to Use By's and Best Before's. Most foods cope perfectly well days even weeks after their dates. I rarely pay attention to them other than with things like fresh chicken. I have eggs in my cupboard that went out of date November 1st, they are perfectly edible.

People buy in to this idea that bang on midnight on the use by date the food will implode into a furry heap of mold and bacteria.

I totally agree with what you are saying regarding things going out of date... I DO use things past the date on packs. The way I see it is, if it looks ok, smells ok and tastes ok, then it gets used. :j

I now see how I should have worded it to make it easier to understand to both myself and you other great bundles of knowledge

What I should have said was - should items with the Use by date on them still be on the shelves in a store on that date????

I think you have answered my query though, with your answer "An item with a use by of say November 30th will have to be taken off sale at midnight November 30th."


Thanks :T

Badger_Lady

It's not even a courtesy - supermarkets reduce food in order to get it off their shelves, hopefully avoiding wastage (throwing it away and getting nothing for it).

If there's only 1 left with a short date, there's limited point in reducing its price. However, if you have 25 bags of salad that have to be sold by the end of the day, whack it down!

Stephen_Leak

As above. Go on, live life on the edge a little and join the "Use By Date Survivors Club"!

pulliptears

Badger_Lady wrote: »

It's not even a courtesy - supermarkets reduce food in order to get it off their shelves, hopefully avoiding wastage (throwing it away and getting nothing for it).

If there's only 1 left with a short date, there's limited point in reducing its price. However, if you have 25 bags of salad that have to be sold by the end of the day, whack it down!

Exactly, years ago before Mr Tesco turned into the evil stepfather they used to have a staff shop in the warehouse where you could have food that was going out for pennies. It was stopped when they realised they could take over a small section of the store, fill it with goods heading out and reduce it by pennies instead

It never fails to amaze me in my local tesco's how many people are clamoring over bits of meat etc reduced from £2.00 to £1.79. Its hardly a saving for a piece of beef thats black and tainted. If you are going to reduce it then at least do it properly

pulliptears

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

As above. Go on, live life on the edge a little and join the "Sell By Date Survivors Club"!

When I first got married I was really spot on with dates, I dread to think how much decent food I threw away because I thought it would kill us all

My dear MIL has tins in her store older than my kids.... I used to moan at her but I have come round to her way of thinking now lol.

Incidentally, on my visit to Morrisons last week I pulled a tub of tuna sweetcorn sandwich filler out of the chiller that was TEN DAYS out of date. There were a few of them on there. I gathered them up and passed them to the lad who was filling at the end of the aisle. He was so grateful anyone would think Id just given him a tenner, he would have got a pretty good telling off apparently.

wolvesinwales

I was once told that 'Use By' is an order 'Best Before' is advice.
This thread caught my eye because i went to Macro yesterday to buy some catering packs of butter and the use by date was 10/12/07 but this was only on the box and not the individual sachets so the user of the sachets would not know the use by date.

Zara33

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

As above. Go on, live life on the edge a little and join the "Use By Date Survivors Club"!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: