To have returned these hot cross buns?

[Flossyfloof]

Nipped in to M and S earlier and bought some hot cross buns. Once I got them hone I realised that the packaging said "best before 6 March ", which I took to mean that they were past their best. I rang the store and asked if I could return them as they are to have for breakfast with visitors. The chap I spoke to was very helpful but explained that M and S use sell by dates and not best before dates and that these buns would have been reduced later today, that was why they were still on the shelves. I asked if it didn't mean that they were past their best And he talked again about sell by not best before and said "but you want a longer date and that's very understandable" I woukd happily have eaten then had I bought them a few days ago but AIBU in thinking that best before doesn't mean sell by? We all know the dates are a bit rubbish anyway ...

Yabu. And slightly bonkers.
And anyone who eats HCBs on anything other than Good Friday is also unreasonable.
So there.

YABU to think you should be able to take them back, but YANBU to be annoyed! I think it's the responsibility of the shopper to check the dates, but that it's annoying that shops often line the front of the shelves with food that only has a few hours left to be eaten, especially if it's "use by" - even worse. It's very easy to forget to check, especially if you have small children in tow!

I always take the "best before" to mean "best before the end of" and to include the date mentioned btw.

Firstly, yabu for buying hot cross buns in the first place. Horrid sticky things

I would be miffed at myself for not noticing the sell by date before I bought them but that's about it. Buyer beware and all that. I would absolutely not have tried to return them. There lies madness

Toast them

Jesus Christ. I ate breakfast muffins last week that were 3 days over. Still standing strong!

Blimey OP - don't ever move somewhere like Africa. Hardly anything comes with a use by date. Instead, you're expected to use your common sense and keep your fridge outside to protect you from the midnight explosions as the food goes off

Anyway, don't HCBs have to, by law, be toasted? Means as long as they don't have mould and can't be used as a cricket ball then they are fine.

Best before is an advisory date and if you use after that date the quality may have deteriorated but they are safe to eat. In store bakery goods often have a best before that is the same date as they are made as they are best eaten that day but are perfectly safe eaten after that date.

Best before 6th would means they are best eaten by the end of that date but will be safe to eat afterwards too.

www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/food-labelling-terms.aspx - explains use by and best before labelling

Yesterday the tree surgeons came and planted their machinery so that I couldn't get out of the house. Disaster struck, we ran out of milk for the never ending tea.
So I used the UHT semi-skimmed I bought last October (where I live you have an emergency box in case you're snowed in) and had a best before date of 4 March.
One of tree surgeons remarked that he hadn't had tea with full fat milk in years, how nice it was....(if you'd come next week you could've had yoghurt, thought I)

Yes to always toasting them, I wouldn't eat them any other way.

if we live in a world where people cant look at a hot cross bun and decide whether it is suitable for eating, i despair. sell by dates seem sensible- it needs to be out of the shop by the end of the day- presumably this is several days before it should be eaten.

and its a cold cross bun unless toasted.

and now i want a feckin hcb

If they contain toffee fudge and chocolate then they are not hot cross buns in my book. I get that some people don't like hcb, each to their own and all that, but why then produce chocolate fudge buns and call them hot cross buns?

Oh and OP you are being ridiculous. Bread products are fine ages after their date. And I should know, having spent my student years eating green mouldy bread to no ill effects.

You know if you eat them now they will be poisonous?

On a serious note YABU for buying hot cross buns, they are awful

This is the first time I've seen someone think that

"before before 6th March"

means they are no good ON 6th March.

I've seen plenty of people think they are not good AFTER 6th March.

Are you a robot?

It's true that "before 6th March" technically means BEFORE, but that's not what that label is trying to tell you.

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday and all is well.

Trills, I used to work with somebody who would through whole loaves of bread on ON THEIR BEST BEFORE DATE - I think that is sacrilege tbh.

Oh, and OP, YABU.

Have those HCBs been eaten yet? And if not, can I have one?

I have just had the argument discussion with o/h who used to be my boss. He agrees with most of you, that "best before" means best by the end of the date. So why is it best before then? Why not best BY?
So if he told me he wanted something done before today it would have been ok for me to leave it until today even though it should have been done before today? QED, imho.
I have picked all the poisonous green mould off so they have fingernail sized holes in and they are gently toasting now. On both sides - who got the idea that toasting on one side was Ok? AIBU to think that the law is not only that they should be toasted, everyone knows that, but that they should be done on both sides?

They have mould on them one day after the best before date?

These date are so utterly useless for things like bread wares.