"No date, helps reduce waste" For whose benefit is this?

dealyboy

Hi Lw ...

Longwalker said:

I wouldn't be so hung up on dates of fruit and veg, your spuds, carrots, onions etc have been in cold storage for MONTHS. Main crop potatoes were lifted in the summer - they will still be in shops until easter, then the imports will start coming in before our new season spuds are pulled 

Crops out of season here? Usually weeks or months old before they make it to the supermarket 

Where I work, we get carrots from 15 miles away - whilst in season - October to end of January here - within 2 days of lifting, we process within 24 hrs and give 5 days shelf life. Then we have to import from Israel till the Spanish and French come on the market. All these are at least a month old before reaching us, we process in the same 24hrs and still give the same 5 days shelf life 

We supply a coleslaw manufacture who makes on a Monday. They want the grated carrot and cabbage on the Monday at 7 am so they can give a shelf life to the supermarkets. That cabbage and those carrots are delivered to us on a Friday , we process on a Saturday for them. So your coleslaw isnt actually "fresh"

There is far too much importance put on dates in supermarkets. Use by is the only date you need to follow for safety and theres no use by on whole fruit or veg

Swear to god, if you worked anywhere along the food chain, you would die of starvation if you were in anyway concerned about BB dates  ( and Ive worked all along the chain at some point in my life )

... take your points but BBs are useful for comparison of relative freshness. If you saw one tote with produce BB 7th Jan and another with 14th Jan, no detectable difference in quality, and you wanted to keep the product for a week, are you really telling me you would take the former?

Murphybear

Katiehound said:

sarah1972 said:

 

If people really want the freshest and best value then a greengrocer or market is the way to go or as my Nan does, buy frozen, other than salad items. 

Personally I love the idea as we never had best before dates on veg when I was growing up so not sure why people obsess about it nowadays. 

the greengrocer is dearer than the supermarket where I live.
The market? not thriving , and difficult to carry heavy shopping from there if you don't walk well.
.Supermarket wins hands down as you can park freely almost outside the door

  Times have moved on since you were growing up. No there weren't dates on things then... but there are now. It's called progress!!  The problem is most of the older generation know that the date is (generally) just a guide line, they know about smelling things, looking at things for mould... and if looks alright and smells alright then it's fine to eat. 
 Younger ones have grown up with dates and they believe everything they read. I do know of folk who throw things away the day before the date arrives. More money than sense.

Fortunately we are entitled to our own opinions.
 I prefer that the date is there.
I don't go throwing things away: if you were brought up with very little money it usually colours your judgement as an adult.
(Oh, and no, I don't want frozen veg- I want fresh- the freezer is saved for other things!)

Please be careful. You cannot see, smell or taste listeria or salmonella on food.  This is particularly important with things like ham and other cooked meats.  At its best you will be ill for a few days, at its worst it is fatal.  Pay careful attention to the dates 

jon81uk

Murphybear said:

Katiehound said:

sarah1972 said:

 

If people really want the freshest and best value then a greengrocer or market is the way to go or as my Nan does, buy frozen, other than salad items. 

Personally I love the idea as we never had best before dates on veg when I was growing up so not sure why people obsess about it nowadays. 

the greengrocer is dearer than the supermarket where I live.
The market? not thriving , and difficult to carry heavy shopping from there if you don't walk well.
.Supermarket wins hands down as you can park freely almost outside the door

  Times have moved on since you were growing up. No there weren't dates on things then... but there are now. It's called progress!!  The problem is most of the older generation know that the date is (generally) just a guide line, they know about smelling things, looking at things for mould... and if looks alright and smells alright then it's fine to eat. 
 Younger ones have grown up with dates and they believe everything they read. I do know of folk who throw things away the day before the date arrives. More money than sense.

Fortunately we are entitled to our own opinions.
 I prefer that the date is there.
I don't go throwing things away: if you were brought up with very little money it usually colours your judgement as an adult.
(Oh, and no, I don't want frozen veg- I want fresh- the freezer is saved for other things!)

Please be careful. You cannot see, smell or taste listeria or salmonella on food.  This is particularly important with things like ham and other cooked meats.  At its best you will be ill for a few days, at its worst it is fatal.  Pay careful attention to the dates 

That’s the difference with a USE BY date where there is a risk of things like that. 

This discussion is more about items where there wouldn’t normally be a date (fruit and veg) or where eating it past the best before date is likely to be obvious it’s past it’s best like bread. 

swampduck

I'm on the fence about dating stuff as even purchases bought well within date have had the odd rotten item in there.

But last year we decided to have a go at growing our own (on a very small scale!) and grew Tomatoes, Spring onions, Strawberries and Potatoes.

We were disappointed with the strawberries but have not given up and have planted up runners hoping for a bigger harvest and bigger strawberries. Tomatoes did well from only three plants, Spring onions were a real success and we know now to stagger sowing these and Potatoes grown in bags were a surprising winner - lots of small ones which were a nuisance to peel but the over-riding thing with growing your own is how long and how well they keep in comparison to shop bought produce.

We still have some potatoes which have lasted well having been stored correctly and finished the spring onions over Xmas from harvesting in the autumn.

This has now highlighted to me how long stuff is stored by the supermarkets which then goes off rapidly once in the stores. So this year we will be looking around for a local farm shop in the hope of fresher produce and I buy a lot of frozen veg because it annoys me when fresh goes off so quickly.

We only have a small garden and himself has made some planters ready for this years' hopeful harvest. So give it go - you never know!