Best Before dates you ignore?

[Thisnamechanger]

Curious to hear what people think about Best Before dates... Does anyone actually pay attention to them?

I just cracked open and M&S fruitcake of questionable vintage went off two weeks ago and it's bloody fantastic...even nicer than when I opened it!

I dont think I ever pay attention. I might glance at dried herbs because they lose strength and may need a bit more but that's about it.

I used some gravy granules this evening the went out of date over a year ago. They tasted fine.

I pay attention to use by but not best before dates. That said I recently opened a tin of lentils way past their best before that didn't look anything like they should so didn't consume them.

I take no notice of best before dates but do smell and look carefully at anything past its use by date.

I don’t really look at best before dates, I go on smell and look and taste. Except for preprepared food like sliced ham and ready meals. Those I’m more careful about. I still exceed the best before dates fairly often even on those, but not by as much...

I take zero notice. Crisps and bread are the only things I can think of that aren't good after.

Fruit cake doesn't go off. The date it purely to avoid complaints.

I still have some wedding cake that is nearly 10 years old. Being saved in the vain hope of a first child's christening....... it is perfectly edible, and still nice.

Use By is completely different to Best Before.

I take Best Before as a guideline, and usually adhere to Use By as it's on things like milk and meat where the consequences of eating gone off food are much worse

I ignore most. I have eyes, nose and a million years of evolution to use them that tells my body what's good to eat.

I adhere to Use By dates, but will ignore Best Before.

Food i’ll Eat after their Best before date are cakes, bread, dried food such as gravy, etc, providing they don’t look ‘off’.

Never bother with them. I just look at and smell the food and make my own decision. Same with use by.
For a fair proportion of my life best before dates didn't exist and we all managed.

I stick to neither best before or use by. I just see if it seems ok

@OlennasWimple - It's funny that you mention milk, as that is one that I happily ignore the use by on, same as most other dairy products. Milk, yoghurt and cheese are all sniffed and eaten if they smell normal.

I ignore it on bread too. If it's a bit stale it gets toasted. If it's mouldy it gets chucked. No need for a date.

I couldn't tell you how many things in my baking cupboard are well out of date. They are all fine.

I should clarify that I have never had food poisoning so I'm happy with the choices I'm making. I also don't seem to pick up sick bugs, so perhaps I'm even enhancing my immune system!

I've switched to oat milk now but used to happily drink milk after and also when it was 'on the turn'

Don't care about them, I mean I sniff and check for mould but nothing beyond that - today's accompaniment was 6 weeks out of date

I've been horrendously sick from milk "on the turn", so don't want to risk it. Cheese, however, rarely lasts long enough to go past its date I'm happy to consume as long as it's not too furry

Also milk gets sniffed, check bread for mould (if a tiny bit cut off!) hard cheese cut off mould ... never had food poisoning, might be immune by now

Even use by dates I don’t stick religiously. Meat I give a day over and dairy products 2-3 days depending on what it is. Other stuff is by testing it’s state before cooking or eating.

I just put some sausages in the freezer that were use by 24th because I have leftovers from tonight's dinner for a couple meals.

I ignore all of them, I'm currently using milk 2 days past and it's fine.

I buy a lot of M&S reduced food and we eat them the day or two after the date.

Dates on raw, unprepared, fruit and veg are meaningless. The way they've been stored is all that matters. If it looks OK, it is OK.

Yogurt and cream is good for at least a week or two after the date.

Cheese lasts for months after the date.

Tinned and dried stuff years, usually. I did throw away some suet that was rancid 18 months out of date, but that's a rare example.

Just about all those instructions on sauce/pickle/baileys etc about consuming within a few weeks after opening can be ignored, they're fine for years. I had some Baileys that had been open about 5 years once, it was fine.

I've had food poisoning once in the last 25 years and that was almost certainly from a prawn sandwich bought from the work canteen, so likely to be in date, made in accordance with strict hygiene procedures and refridgerated to within an inch of its life.

As PP said, I'll pay attention to use by, but generally not pay BB much heed.

Yeah, I use my freezer a lot for slices of cooked meats, etc. Dried herbs I sometimes chuck and renew but that's about all. Birds seem to like the mouldy bits of cheese.

I once kept a bottle of gravy browning for 9 years before I chucked it, after using bits from time to time - it had become too sticky and gloopy for words

I regularly use eggs that are MONTHS past their best before dates - if they're not obviously rancid, they're fine. Like a lot of PPs, I just go by smell and appearance.

I pay no attention to use by or best before dates. My butchers meat doesn't come with a use by date. I go by smell and sight and knowing how long food lasts. Fruit and veg in particular has use by dates that are completely irrelevant. I've used potatoes several weeks past their use by date and they are fine. Eggs are another one, I just see if they float. I'm more cautious with dairy, but I still use my nose.