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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To eat eggs which are six days out of date?

77 replies

BertieBotts · 12/01/2011 08:24

BF says I am and wants to send me to the shop for new ones. I say they are fine as I have tested them in a bowl of water where they stood on end, which I have always been told means they are fine although it's better if they are cooked through, and have always eaten eggs like this and never had one which was off. It's for scrambled egg so will be cooked through.

OP posts:

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 11:31

i can't find any reference to eggs having "use by" rather than "best before".

this will need to be investigated.
it's probably just the foodstandard egency getting it wrong.

texting DH to check the egg box.

ChickensAreFlyingUnderTheRadar · 12/01/2011 11:33

Agree with the floating. A bad egg will float in a jug of water. If it sinks, it's fine. And I never store eggs in the fridge, just in a cool cupboard. Most supermarket eggs are already weeks old when you buy them People put eggs int he fridge because the fridge tends to come with egg holders. Eggs are porous, so will adopt strong smells from the fridge also.

SookyStackhouse · 12/01/2011 11:38

Bertie my DH is worse - I used eggs on the day they were 'best before' and he got the box out of the bin because he didnt believe that it didn't say 'use by'! He then sniffed the French toast suspiciously and demanded I try it as he was sure it tasted funny!

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 12/01/2011 11:39

I suspect that the Food Standards Agency are also covering their backs (at the expense of our grocery budgets). If they said that it was safe to eat eggs past their 'best before' date, and someone did, became ill, and died, they could be sued for having given that advice, I suspect. Hence far more conservative advice.

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 11:39

after a short experiemnt with the over-month-past-date eggs, I found that even if they float, they're not necessarily bad. I had to whiff to double check (we needed to use them!)

earwicga · 12/01/2011 11:40

StayingDavidTennantsGirl - you could always freeze your milk to avoid it going past the date.

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 11:41

got a text back from DH, and he says our box says "best before 27th Jan" - have texted him back to double check it really does say best before...

STDG- that would suggest that they should put "use by" to cover their backs, not "best before" because that does have a different rule and recommendation.

madonnawhore · 12/01/2011 11:44

Lol @ not trusting him to read it properly the first time.

Eggs definitely have BB dates, not use by.

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 11:47

he has confirmed that it is " best before " date.

so not the most helpful guideline if eggs don't conform to this rule

(which i still think is bollocks)

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 11:47

what? madonna?

sometimes people see what they want to see!

madonnawhore · 12/01/2011 11:48

Niecie · 12/01/2011 11:55

We do the floating thing and frequently use eggs beyond their BB date.

If the food standard agency thing said don't use raw eggs after the BB date I suspect I would take notice of that but having used dozen of eggs, cooked, after their BB date I think they might just be covering their back as somebody else said.

Original poster

BertieBotts · 12/01/2011 12:29

"Send" to shop was lighthearted, muts - he was washing up so I was going anyway. :)

OP posts:

Chil1234 · 12/01/2011 12:32

Poor delicate creature. If he's easily upset by little things like sell-by dates, find ways to remove items from their original packaging :)

NigellaPleaseComeDineWithMe · 12/01/2011 12:37

Eggs are usually stamped on with the dates

tyler80 · 12/01/2011 12:38

Eggs aren't kept in a fridge at the supermarket so not sure why you would keep them in the fridge at home.

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 13:18

mine aren't Nigella

NigellaPleaseComeDineWithMe · 12/01/2011 13:24

Usually - if you buy at a farm shop or a neighbour they won't be.

Buy duck eggs from butcher which are huge and lovely have no dates on them either

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 13:28

(mine are home-grown- they sometimes have poo stuck to them, but that's about it!)

NigellaPleaseComeDineWithMe · 12/01/2011 13:30

Friends in village sometime give me their excess so we get the poo / shredded paper on them and some odd sizes / shapes too.

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 13:35

they won't have dates either!

NigellaPleaseComeDineWithMe · 12/01/2011 13:38

I know - so we use our judgement and would do the same for egs with dates too - whilst having dates and improving food standards is good some of the messages are too black and white and people should use their own judgement.

We finished off the thick cream from Xmas (4th january last night) with pudding was still OK.

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 13:48

exactly!

we made dinner last night using thick cream from christmas.
God knows what the BB date was - I just popped open the lid to make sure it wasn't solid, and it was fine

Greeninkmama · 12/01/2011 14:51

Oh wow, are you my mum nickelbaby? She once spotted a packet of out-of-date green beans in my bin, fished them out and took them home for dinner.

nickelbabysnatcher · 12/01/2011 15:03

i didn't do that!

but i would do that

I have taken food from friends when they were going to throw it because it looked perfectly fine even though it was out of date.
if it's not mouldy or hard (in the case of cheese, that can be cut off), then it's fine.

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