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!!

My DP offered me a chicken Cup-a-soup when I was feeling poorly last week.
He brought it to me, saying, "It's a bit out of date, but I'm sure it's fine!"
I was curious, so I found the packet in the kitchen, with the sell-by date ripped off. A rummage through the bin found it. November 2015
Cheers DP.
I'm still alive.

My dads like this. It’s “only guidelines and means nothing” apparently. A few months ago he got a pork chop out the freezer that had a green sheen covering it (I kid you not). Apparently this chop had moved house with him the previous winter Still ate it though and is still with us

Alger?? That should say her

Just gonna leave this here www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6638715/amp/20-year-old-American-student-mysteriously-died-sleep-eating-simple-meal.html

I am with your DH on dates within reason. I wouldn't use chicken after use by, but might use beef. Seafood I'm wary of even on the date.

Mac and cheese would be alright left out in a cool kitchen this time of year, it’s not like it’s fish or chicken!

I thought “sell-by” dates had been abolished and now it’s just “use by” and “best before”?

He's perfectly correct, the date is only a guideline, and the sell by date isn't the eat by date anyway. My family and I have eaten loads of stuff past sell by dates, and haven't suffered any ill effects from it.

I made spag bol Saturday night. It was still warm when I went to bed so I left it on the side and put it in the fridge yesterday morning. Had it for lunch today - it was fine.

DP went through a phase of buying me cooked meats every time he was near a Lidl for my lunches. I ended up eating a few packs about three weeks after their Use by - I wouldn't usually be so laissez-faire about meat but they looked and smelt fine and I didn't suffer after eating them.

I'll chuck cheese if it's too mouldy regardless of what the label says.

also asked me to open a tin of crab meat... With a sell by date of 3 years previously!

What do you think the risk is? Leaving aside the fact that crab meat will have a "best before" date rather than a "sell by" or "use by", why do you think this is dangerous?

I got some mince out of the fridge on Friday that was 4 days past it's 'sell by' date. It had gone from the shop to my fridge and stayed there, unopened, until I needed it. Opened it up, gave it a sniff, got OH to sniff it, and we had it for dinner that night. I'm still alive and had no ill effects.
When I open cheese I then wrap it in clingfilm so no air gets to it. I have no idea of the 'sell by' date, but if there is a bit of green on it I cut it off and use the rest.

I think YABU.

YANBU. You have standards and your DH is trying to trick you into eating food that you wanted throwing away. He should have at least told you.

Your body your choice.

I had some eggs in the fridge yesterday from last October - still perfectly fine, just one that wasn't as good when broken open. I've got cheese from last year, had pasta earlier bbNov 18 - wouldn't occur to me to not use them. If it looks fine & smells fine....

We’ve been acting like your husband for ten years. Not dead yet!
Although his line is a lot further away from the date than mine...

You have standards and your DH is trying to trick you into eating food that you wanted throwing away. He should have at least told you
Or maybe OP should have either put the food in the fridge the night before or in the bin that morning instead of spending more time than that telling her DH to do it!

I also frequently leave hot food on the side to cool down after dinner, forget about it, and then freeze it the next morning. Again, no ill effects.

YABU, I'm with your husband.

YABU

You could have put the mac and cheese in the fridge or you could have put it in the bin. I'd have probably eaten it myself.

I'm with you OH on the sell by dates. He's right - they are a guideline

YABU. As PP have said, sell by is the date by which it will ideally be sold, not the date by which it should be consumed. Shops leave themselves a good gap. Best before simply indicates flavour and texture might not be the best, but it's still safe to eat. Use by is a bit more fixed but can fairly safely be ignored for many things, especially those in sealed packets. Cheese is a way of preserving milk. Given what cows go through for us to make it, I would not be throwing it away.

Unless your heating is on 25 deg. c. overnight something cooked and left out overnight is perfectly edible. I leave things out, in a covered saucepan, for up to 2 days before I worry. It's only in the summer that I refrigerate and even then not necessarily overnight, although I will cover to keep flies out. I've never had food poisoning when catering for myself.

I do all the things listed in the OP... never get sick. I’d be more careful for the baby or if I was feeding a guest but I do think people go way OTT about food and bacteria. I was a scout for many years - I can almost guarantee that I’ve eaten far more ‘dangerous’ food (badly prepared by 10 year olds with minimal supervision and eaten off the floor with grubby hands) than I will ever manage to prepare in my own kitchen.

You are being ridiculous.

We leave chicken, tuekry, pies, bolognese, lasagne etc. out in the kitchen or in the cold oven rather than the fridge for days, reheating more than once.

No one is sick. It's fine.

Your DH is right. Sell by/Best before etc are guides only and they err in the side of caution (and profitability for the supermarkets). If it looks and smells ok it will be fine for any healthy adult to eat long after the date on the label. Obviously for children, the elderly or someone unwell more care should be taken.

I am very careful about covering and chilling food though, but I think a macaroni cheese left out overnight in the U.K. in winter would be fine to eat.

My SIL is like you OP. He worries a lot about dates and wastes an awful lot of food. He would be horrified if he saw some of the dates on food he has eaten in our house but what he doesn’t know hasn’t hurt him. I don’t take unnecessary risks with our health but I do use my common sense.

YANBU

I don't even bother looking at sell-by dates. It's insane to throw out cheese that looks ok (isn't dry/mouldy). Cheese is milk transformed by bacteria, it's meant to be a big festering lump of bacteria!

I'd get him to put stuff away once it's cooled and stuff left out overnight would go in the bin, although if you heat it through very thoroughly it'd probably be fine.

I agree with him. I also would have eaten the mac and cheese without a second thought.

I wouldn't eat meat that smelt off or dairy stuff that smelled rancid but I definitely leave hot things out over night in my kitchen (which is cold - radiator isn't turned on, only heat is if cooking from the cooker) and put them in the fridge/freezer in the morning.