"Use By" Dates

[TwoDrifters]

Please help settle an argument that has arisen in our home repeatedly over the years…

I maintain that if food hasn't been used on or by the "use by" date - it should sadly be thrown away.

DH asserts that if you've cooked the item on its "use by" date, then it can safely be stored in the fridge and consumed up to 2-3 days later.

We are talking about things like fresh chicken and raw prawns, things I deem a little "dangerous" for want of a better word!

Who is correct, please, oh wise Mumsnetters? (I am prepared to hang my head in shame at the amount of food wastage over the years if it is me!)

I tend to go with your DHs thinking. No idea if that is the correct government advice but it's not killed me yet.

I'm with your DH!

Your husband is right.

Otherwise all those Christmas turkeys dated 25th Dec. would be pretty useless.

You have to use common sense even with the 'use by' dates.

Stuff doesn't go off at the stroke of midnight.

Although I've had stuff go funny long before the use by. So it works both ways.

use by means it needs to be cooked on that day - after that it can be safely stored and eaten based on the storage guidelines for cooked meat.

So in effect you are both right, if it has been cooked on or by the use by date it has been used. He is right that once you have cooked it the use by date has been fulfilled and then its the next set of criteria and hygenie that comes into play

I do the same as you op, I suffered from a bad case of campylobacter a couple of years ago so I'd rather buy some new food then risk becoming I'll again.

Your dh is right. We would cook up meat on its last day and then store for 3 days once cooked too.

Your dh is right.

I would also do what your DH does. Cook it on the use by date, make sure it's chilled as per guidelines, stored for 2 days max and then thrown away if not eaten (or put out for the fox).

Your DH is right

Why would you argue about something like this for years when you can just check general health and food safety guideliens

your thinking is being on autopilot and extremely wasteful!

(apart from anything, many restaurants pre-cook food - in fact it helps some food, e.g. chilli or a stew, it's better when it's been cooked and left overnight to develop flavour.. presumably you'd chuck it away if the batch hadn't been consumed by its original uncooked use by date? )

You have to use common sense

Exactly this! What did humans do before little manufacturer labels... they use their good judgement, sense of smell and go from there!

Your DH is right.

Plus to be honest, common sense should apply. Just because something says use by, doesn't mean it's not good for a day or two after that - you should be able to judge by the smell.

Yep, DH is right, and as elessar says, many foods are fine past their date. If it looks and smells normal, it's probably safe to eat.

It's almost unanimous, then. I am an idiot. I shall apologise profusely when he gets home tonight.

Thanks, all!

I use the 'use by' very loosely. I regularly eat yoghurts 2 weeks after use by and to date it's never made me ill.

I'm with your DH too, and so is my DS who is a chef so very conscious of food safety.

Your DH is right as PP's have said. Also worth mentioning that food on it's use by date can be safely frozen/defrosted & cooked.

yes, agree with your DH. Although IMO the most important thing is to trust your senses. In the past week I've eaten sausages that were a couple of days out of date, and also thrown away some fish that was several days within its use-by date, but really did not smell right when I opened the packet.

I do the same as your DH, and actualy quite often eat lots of foods that are past the use by date, I haven't been ill from doing things this way so will continue to do so.

Yep, cook it or freeze it.

Use a bit of common sense - sometimes things can have been stored badly in the shop or at home so I wouldn't...

You do just have to use your common sense

Yes I'd cook "use by" fresh meat or fish and keep in the fridge for dinner the next day or batch cook for freezing. Also on the "use by" day you could freeze it and defrost to use at a later date so you aren't being wasteful and throwing food out.

I'm afraid I agree with your dh - I would cook things and store them for a bit longer. But then I did grow up before the days of Use By and Best Before dates, and learned from my mum how to judge whether food was OK or not. I do use things that have passed their Use By/Best Before dates, providing they look and smell OK, and have never had a problem.

It's worth remembering that these dates will be deliberately conservative - the manufacturers will want to give themselves a bit of leeway, so that they can be as sure as possible that the food will still be OK up to the Use By/Best Before dates - if they cut it too fine, too often, they will find people bringing back food that has gone off before or on the Use By date, and demanding refunds - so they build a bit of extra time into their dates - if that makes sense.

Just sent DH the link to this thread. He is going to be so smug. But fair enough.

This issue was on eat well for less once. The scientist they interviewed said that they will deliberately set the use by date earlier then it's absolute end date. So maybe it'll say use within 7 days when scientific evidence has shown it needs using within 10 days.

I work in the mass produced food industry.

Use by dates are to tell you when food is safe in its current state. Samples will have been laboratory tested to decide how much 'life' to give a product - basically how long until the natural bacteria has grown to an amount that could make someone ill.

Food does not go off at the stroke of midnight on the use by date. Manufacturers have to allow for the people that drive a long way to the supermarket, or pop into the cafe for tea after doing their shopping so they leave some wiggle room. They also allow for the quality decreasing but that is another thread.

Cooking the food kills that bacteria so 'resets' the clock, if you like. Just like cooking something with 10 days left on the packet doesn't mean you still have 10 days to eat the cooked food. It has changed and new rules apply.