to think we are going INSANE over food 'expiry' dates??

[PacificDogwood]

Bread that gets thrown out on its sell by date?
Sugar/salt with sell by dates?
Nothing can be reheated for fear of Death by D+V?

As far as I am concerned, if it looks ok, smells ok, has not grown fur and cannot move under its own steam and I want it, I will eat it.

All this throwing out of perfectly good food really gets on my wick.
Supermarkets locking bins so nobody can help themselves to out of date stuff that is being chucked out anyway? WTF?

We have gone insane. Please nobody spoil my rant by mentioning the very rare case of botulism from tinned food - I'll still take my chances.

I feel better. Thanks for listening.

I rarely follow use by dates, I'll eat anything, me.....and dh and the dses but not necessarily knowingly

I appear to have an iron constitution thanks to my upbringing! I don't see the fuss at all, I use the sniff test for everything, regardless what the date says.

I've only had rotten chicken once and that was within it's use by date. It stank so bad, horrid smell. I've never had it since though, even with chicken that's gone past it's date.

I must admit to begin a it funny about milk and yoghurt though, the idea of gone off yoghurt turns my stomach.

Interesting, Tee, that you feel things are a bit more relaxed across the pond.

Yoghurt is just milk + bacteria, ditto sour milk - none of that bothers me at all. I can assure everybody that Actimel 'expired' 18.1.12 tastes absolutely lovely, is enjoyed by my 2 year old too and why on earth DH bought a joblot of the stuff when he did so that we are still working our way through it, I don't know.

Oh, I love a yellow label, I do , even before the recession, I did.

I don't want them to get rid of sell by/use by dates - it's how we afford to eat well!

Reduced fridges and the local market, use them for snacks/carbs/protien and then I can afford a nice veg box

Trickle, I see your point .

However, I think they should put 'picked on', 'packaged on', 'cooked on' on stuff, like they do on some eggs: 'laid on' whatever date is Really Useful Information IMO.

whispers what we could do with is another mad cow scare .... my freezer was heaving and we never ate so well!!

I do think I'm a wise cook; well I know I am. A large chicken does me 3 meals. And thats for 5 - roast dinner, strip off the rest of the meat and there is a curry, then I boil the carcass down for soup stock.

Actually, I boil all bones down for stock.

Unless I want an exotic veg, I now buy in lidl - as they don't do uniform pretty veg and it all looks the same cooked.

I've just had a blazing barney with my idiot DH who stands firm that you can't freeze food unless you buy it on the day of purchase. Going round in circles here.

I go with the sniff test, except for meat, shellfish and fish. I am also wary of rice dates. I wouldn't feed DD something very out of date, but she is only small. I Use common sense to tell me if food is good, frequently bread and fruit goes off BEFORE it's best before date!!! I have been known to take mouldy food that is significantly in date back to supermarkets.

The label advice changing can only be a good thing

I cooked a duck last night that had been in the freezer for over a year. I searched online and couldn't find any reason not to eat it, the only negative information I found said that the flavour may be impaired. We were cooking it with Chinese fivespice all over it and serving it with hoi sin sauce and Chinese pancakes so the flavour wasn't that important. It was tasty and we are still alive! The label said if freezing use within 1 month. Absolutely no need to chuck it out after one month what are they talking about?

Before the recession I was always really strict about expiry dates and that duck would have been destined for the bin. Now we are being more sensible and it makes me realise the hundreds and hundreds of pounds we have wasted over the years for no good reason at all.

Slowburner, the freezing on day of purchase thing never made sense anyway, you may have bought it on it's expiry date or you may have bought if 5 days earlier. How could it possibly make a difference?

It's what happens when the majority of people live in towns and have no clue at all about where their food comes from. I think it's inevitable - until the arse drops right out of the economy and we're all shooting the feral pigeons and desperately trying to grow beans in our front gardens. Judging food by the calendar is just another sympton of decadent Western capitalism.

The Sniff Test is the best test ever. DP and I did a stir-fry on Friday night that we've just made into wraps for our dinner tonight, so none of that hysterical "argh I'm going to die!" nonsense around here.

I'm also a massive advocate of buying stuff that's reduced due to it going out of date, and then freezing it! Have done it with meats, soups, ready meals etc. and we always have something there to eat then.

If something is within its Use By date and it goes off, I'll complain to the shop. But if it's just a spot of mould on some bread I've been known to pick off the mould and then toast it anyway.

Well, I've just done a dressing for my Little Gem lettuce: display until 28.12.11, eat before 29.12.11. Its outside leaves where like ricepaper and limp, they are in the bin; the heart is just perfect.
It does make me wonder what had been done to it...

Expiry dates are guidelines, they're there to protect the seller. If you eat past the minimum date and get sick they can breath easy, it was after their expiry. Usually you can see when certain things have gone off: bread, milk, fruit especially, some meats as well. I always eat things past the expiry, i know lots of people who have with no problems, but I'm always leery with seafood-persona choices.

I have a friend, we worked together and she previously worked for one of the testing labs that looked at outbreaks related to bacteria and food hygiene etc. They once tested milk, opened it on day of purchase and tested it every day to see how long it went off. They then repeated these tests for about 6 months. Some went off just after the expiry, others longer, one lasted over a week later!

My dad, however, and siblings, will never ever eat past an expiry-so often i get free food :)

Slow burner, what does your hubby think happens when food is reduced and purchased on that day, due to expire the next? It still can be frozen on that day of purchase whether it's a week before the expiry date or reduced and on the day of expiry. That's how you can get some good cuts of meat for cheap. Get them reduced and freeze them. It's no different if it's in your fridge and frozen two days later before expiring, or in Tesco's fridge. Although Tesco's is trended so they tend to be aware if their stuff shuts off.

I never eat within a month either, i've eaten 6 months down the fine and never ad an issue. Only had f.poisoning once and that was from pork balls in a chinese restaurant- 35 cases from the same restaurant in one night, very unpleasant.

If it doesnt climb out of the fridge and attack me then its fine

I've been known to remove the lid from the mint sauce jar before putting it on the table.
So DH won't see the 2010 expiry date on the top

I have a jar of Jersey black butter in my fridge bought the year before DD2 was born. She's now just turned 4 - looked in the jar last week and the stuff's immacuate! No mould, nothing.
I do wonder what they put in the stuff.

If you do get a piece of prematurely off chicken, best approach I've found is to take it in a sandwich box back to the supermarket and offer to open the box at Customer Services. Amazing how quickly they refund the money...

I ignore the sell by, best by, use by, something-else-by dates. I might buy something reduced because of its 'now' date but I freeze it and it's fine.

Some time ago, I bought some Asda 12 pot yogurt pack and it was in my refigerator for 3 months after its 'date' before I ate any. It was lovely. The 'dates' given are useless adn unnecessary. Same argument about curly cucumbers. What's the matter with them? Nothing.

rulebrittania If we are going onto the topic of misshapen vegetables I bought a big bag of basic carrots from sainsburys a few months back as they had run out of the ones I usually buy. They taste GREAT and last ages too, we had been bemoaning the loss of our veg patch and how great our veg tasted compared to shop bought (which is also costlier) but the basics range tastes really good. Also grown just down the road from us so it's nearly in our backyard :)

Haziedoll and mia4 I have No idea, listening to him I found it hard not to laugh at his description of food 'rotting' in the freezer and that we need to be more careful at eating food within the recommended dates. I've been doing all the food shopping and cooking for the past 5 years and he has eaten many things close to the use by and eaten up every morsel, never bothered him until I said what a great thing it was sainsburys were changing their labels.

I have never taken a blind bit of notice of "freeze on day of purchase".. why on earth would you if it has been kept in a fridge until you put it in the freezer???

My freezer is magic. Things last forever in there.

seriously OP.. salt and sugar have sell by dates??

As a rule of thumb for freezing meat, my friend (a cook) told me that if you buy something, say 3 days before expiry date, and freeze it, then the product should be fine for up to 3 days after defrosting in the fridge. After that, you should check it for smell and mould.

avenged that's what I go by for frozen goods, my auntie who is a chef told me the very same thing.

Ok without wanting to sound like a killjoy or a pompous arse, to all that live by the 'give it a sniff' rule please take a look at the food standards agency website. Pathogenic bacteria (the really nasty ones) do not cause the food to change in appearance, smell or taste. Best before dates are given as an advisory but refer more to the quality of the product after the date, however use by dates are there for a reason. I think that food safety should be taught as a compulsory lesson in schools as its a subject that effects us all every day. Anyway that was a tad serious Here endeth the lecture! I will return to my normal childish and ridiculous self now.

Smell....a very coomon sense.

When it come to meat you are safer with less processed sorts - ie lamb chops are safer than minced lamb, sirloin than burgers. Because when meat is prepared, any bacteria living happily and harmlessly( as long as the meat is cooked) on the surface are mixed up and end up right inside the food. But with all of it, use common sense and cook well.

I rarely throw meat, fish or cheese out unless it's walking out of the fridge assuming I am going to cook it well.

Veg I am more fussy because I can't deal with soggy salad, mouldy brocolli or slimy tomatoes.

Apparently cooked rice is one of the most dangerous things. Which also sounds totally counterintuitive to me...