OH keeps food past it’s sell by and I want to kill him

[BellaFreckle1]

Ok so this is a really random subject but I need to know if anyone else is in the same boat as me ...

My OH is a nightmare for keeping food past it’s sell by date and claims it’s only a guideline. It’s starting to really upset me because imo he’s risking food poisoning and sickness. He also leaves cooked food on the kitchen worktop overnight and uncovered then freezes or refrigerates it the next day. I made Mac and cheese a couple nights ago and left the remains in the oven dish on the worktop and asked him to refrigerate it for the following days lunch. I got up in the morning to find it still sitting on the counter so I asked him to throw it in the bin and when I got home from work I found it in the freezer!!!

I know this is probably so trivial but it’s really upsetting me and I’m concerned that one of us is going to become really ill.

I accidentally threw out cheese that was within the sell by date and he almost started crying - honestly his eyes glazed over and he was so mad.

Any advice would be great - I need to nip this on the bud before one of us ends up sick!!

Mineral water and salt have sell by dates. both are millions of years old.... they really, really won’t go off

What do people do when they buy goods that’s are not sealed and labelled - fruit and veg from the market, meat from a butchers, deli items sliced to your requirements?

You think people anxious about dates buy stuff like that?

Oooh will try that Onlyjoined!

The fact cheddar cheese use by date is often months in advance surely must mean to throwers out, that it's all a bit irrelevant. I had cheese on toast for lunch, I had to slice off a bit of mould but it was a very tasty lunch!

Erm food best before are only a guide. The only thing you should take notice is of eggs. Food waste we need to reduce so he’s actually doing good for that part anyway.

That's different, I've already made it. However if I haven't made anything and it's past it's use by/best before date, I'll chuck it out.

@Roussette, no I literally can't. I feel really upset and sick just at the thought of it

The only thing you should take notice is of eggs.

What? Eggs are the easiest thing of all to tell if they're off.

Our kitchen is unheated and pretty cold with huge single glaze wooden windows. I leave things out overnight in winter if I've cooked them that evening and they're still a bit warm when I go to bed.

My mum would put food (covered up) in our garage in winter if the fridge was full. We're all still alive.

I can't imagine ever looking at a sell by / use by date for fruit and veg!

In fact come to think of it, I rarely look at dates on most things. Just go by sight and smell.

Yep, that's right. It might be a bit tasteless, but from a safety point of view fish can be kept at -18C pretty much indefinitely.

It was absolutely disgusting. Honestly one of the worst things I've ever eaten. It may be safe to eat, but I wouldn't recommend it.

@Bluewidow the U.K. has the safest eggs in the world... and I can guarantee you will know if one is rotten

It's almost certain you would have had the same reaction had they been in date.
I had eaten the same shrimp some days earlier, that's why I thought I had suddenly developed a severe allergy. As later diagnosed, it was histamine poisoning, and histamine levels do increase with decomposition.

Yesterday I made myself an omelette with eggs that were a week past their use by. I'm fine. DM also feeds us out of date chicken and sausages (two or three days past the use by) so I think I might have built up some sort of tolerance We are also guilty of leaving some food out overnight but never anything with meat. However YABU if you chuck food as soon as it's past its use by.

Eggs you just spin or float, you don't need a date on them.
Milk smells, breast goes yeasty or mouldy.
Veg goes soft or bendy.

Meat I'm more mindful of - wouldn't risk it with chicken or ham etc

Processed food has so much crap in it anyway its def fine past the date!!

wsvn.com/news/us-world/20-year-old-man-dies-after-eating-5-day-old-pasta/

Oh for God’s sake, ilovepixie, RTFT.

Out of interest how many times have people had food poisoning?

I'm at the waste.

My crazy SIL opens a bag of potatoes and throws the rest away if she doesn't eat them the same day.

What do people think happens once the clock turns to 12:01, the magic green mould fairies multiply like mad!?

All sniff tests here, dates are just guidelines.

I have had food poisoning once, in a developing country, with a cold (so no sniff test).

DH has an even lower bar than me and will eat things my nose has rejected. I can't actually remember him ever having food poisoning.

The nose knows.

Dh is like you and it drives me fucking mad. I eat some extremely sketchy stuff and have never made myself sick. Makes me feel at all the times restaurants and take outs have made me really ill. What the fuck are they doing?

"Out of interest how many times have people had food poisoning?"

Three times - all from eating in restaurants/party buffet. On two occasions it was because the food was either lukewarm or at room temperature. My stomach is no longer made of cast iron which is why I am so cautious.

I find on mumsnet it seems to be a badge of honour to play Russian roulette with potentially dodgy food.

Not a badge of honour. Just using common sense to realise food doesn't just go off in seconds at the stroke of midnight.
Throwing food away is very wasteful and in a lot of cases above, totally uneccessary.

Crikey!

I don’t play Russian roulette with food but at the same time I don’t assume something will be ‘off’ at the stroke of midnight. It’s common sense and like a PP has said, most food poisoning comes from poor hand hygiene or not heating food properly.

We have a major problem with food waste in this country. All I would suggest is to apply common sense.

Three times - all from eating in restaurants/party buffet

I’ve never been ill from my own cooking, and only once from a restaurant (the above-mentioned oysters). But I absolutely avoid buffets unless they’re clearly turning the food over quickly so it doesn’t hang around in that “warm rather than hot” range.

It’s hardly Russian Roulette if you’ve been doing something for thirty-five years and never been ill. It implies the absolute risk is very, very low.