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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Nearly killed my family

92 replies

HoorayItsToday · 19/08/2019 23:04

(light hearted, but true!)

So .... Couple of weeks ago I made a roast for my DH and 2 DCs. There were no gravy granuals left so I searched the cupboard as I was sure we had more hidden somewhere! Found another tub which was open! Yey! Happily made some gravy.

Gravy smelt a bit mouldy/musty! But I thought maybe it was meant to smell like this and I must be imagining there's something wrong, I'm sure it's fine. I asked DH if gravy smelt ok, he said yes. He and the DCs devoured it!

Yesterday I made a roast and got the same tub from the cupboard. Have no idea why, but decided to check the best before date. Aaaaaaagggghhh ... It was best before November 2015!!!!

DH and DCs both seem to have survived the incident and are none the wiser

Am I being unreasonable to think I almost killed them by serving up 4 year old gravy!!!! ()

OP posts:

Rachelover40 · 20/08/2019 00:37

If they haven't been ill since I wouldn't worry.

You don't need gravy granules to make gravy though.

PancakeAndKeith · 20/08/2019 00:39

If it’s regular Bisto then it’s mostly salt anyway.

tolerable · 20/08/2019 00:42

i started a herb garden..ive been adding shredded finely chopped ..green bits all summer...my ma was here othernight looked a bit unimpressed as she stood crittersizingwhile i flung em in curry,she said..you can usually tell which herb it is from the smell...i'll get you a wallchart. i doubt dandelions on it tho. ...grrrr

alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 · 20/08/2019 00:46

Ok can anyone explain this one? I emigrated to Australia in 2013 and brought no food with me, certainly no herbs and spices. And yet, when I cleaned out my cupboards I found an Irish jar of paprika dated 1999! I have never been able to think of an explanation for this! And I use a lot of paprika so a jar wouldn't even last that long!

TumblingTumbleWeeds · 20/08/2019 01:48

This guy was moving and asked me to store some things in my house for a few weeks. I used his pancake mix thinking it was mine. It tasted odd/horrible so seeing it was his mix, not mine and not knowing how long it'd been open, I threw the pancakes away before my child ate any.

Later that day I became violently ill with food poisoning, which lasted a few days. I actually thought I was going to die. I often wonder if his ex-house mate had poisoned the mix because they parted on very, very bad terms...

mathanxiety · 20/08/2019 02:09

I have some Coleman's mustard powder in my pantry that was out of date in 1999. Still going strong. Not many takers for hot mustard here.

Also cayenne pepper that I bought in 1988. Again, fine.

[You can make gravy using meat juices in the roasting pan, plus a little of the fat (drain off most of the fat). You add a few teaspoonfuls of flour to the juices, stir with a whisk to make a roux, add hot water from any veggies you steamed or boiled, or just plain hot water, or red wine, then stir again until you have no lumps, then taste and season as needed.]

aLilNonnyMouse · 20/08/2019 02:12

I once was making a trifle at my Nan's house, family birthday tradition. I used the hundreds and thousands in cupboard as I'd forgotten to buy some. When eating a couple of people mentioned they had a strange texture. I asked Nan when she had bought them and started looking at the packet for the best before date. She chimed in "oh they didn't have best before dates back when I bought those".

Orangepancakes · 20/08/2019 02:15

That's impressive

blaaake · 20/08/2019 02:18

@alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 I have a similarly bizarre one. I was looking through my cupboards a couple of months ago and found a bottle of cordial and thought the packaging looked a bit old fashioned - the best before date was 2008! But the weird part is we moved into this (new build!) house earlier this year and have moved several times since 2008

Hollyhobbi · 20/08/2019 02:19

Just curious what an Irish jar of paprika is as I'm Irish? Oh and our government gave everybody iodine tablets in case of a nuclear attack years ago. These had an expiry date on them of about 2008 or so. Then we were told not to throw them out as they were still OK to use even if the expiry date had passed!

alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 · 20/08/2019 02:42

Hollyhobbi they were from Supervalu or Dunnes, I can't remember, but you definitely can't buy them in Australia! I also remember the iodine tablets.

Toneitdown · 20/08/2019 02:59

I'm 28 and have always just gone with how stuff looks/smells. I can't stand wasting food.

BobTheFishermansWife · 20/08/2019 03:03

I'm not quite sure on generational, I'm late 20s and empty my gravy granules, asking with semolina, flour etc into jars as to fit my cupboards, so wouldn't even be able to check best before dates 😳 although pretty sure the last time I bought gravy granules was in 2014 when dp and I moved in together.

BobTheFishermansWife · 20/08/2019 03:03

Along sorry not asking

EileenAlanna · 20/08/2019 03:19

I think as a trial run that wasn't a bad attempt but it doesn't look like out of date condiments on their own are going to cut it. It's possible your family's built up a resistance over the years - mine certainly did. You may need to resort to old packets of Mary Baker's & Angel Delight.

BooseysMom · 20/08/2019 03:19

Just chucked out a jar of curry powder with the bb date of 2013. Relatively new compared to some here. It made the food taste strange.

If using v.old spices or other powders, watch out for psocids..they are tiny mites which get into out of date dry food.. They like damp cupboards too. We used to have them in a mouldy old house we rented.

Btw, why did you have to have iodine tablets in the event of nuclear attack?

onalongsabbatical · 20/08/2019 06:47

BooseysMom iodine and radiation - How Iodine Protects Against Radiation

A nuclear or radiological event such as the Fukushima disaster released large amounts of Iodine-131 into the air. In a radioactive event like this, the thyroid will quickly absorb the Iodine-131. This internal contamination damages the thyroid, leading to hypothyroidism (when the thyroid fails to produce adequate hormones) or worse.

That’s because the thyroid cannot distinguish between normal iodine and radioactive iodine. In a situation like this, nascent iodine may save your life.

Here’s how it works: Nascent iodine supplements, which are designed to be the most bioavailable form of iodine, help provide sufficient levels of iodine to the thyroid. This helps the thyroid maintain the stable iodine levels necessary for normal function.[4] If the thyroid has reached the appropriate level of iodine from the nascent iodine supplement, then it cannot absorb the radioactive iodine trying to enter. The necessary amount of nascent iodine depends on the age and size of the individual in question.

Keep in mind, nascent iodine only protects from radioactive iodine – not from other radioactive substances or effects. It also does not repair a damaged thyroid.

From - www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/iodine-and-radiation-how-it-works/

BettyFilous · 20/08/2019 07:00

OhGod Does gravy browning (industrial caramel) ever go off? I have only recently parted with a bottle I bought in the late 90s. It seemed just the same as when I bought it.

Mummyoflittledragon · 20/08/2019 07:24

😂😂 I think you’d struggle to kill your family this way. I thought this was going to be about a near miss high speed. car accident or similar.

Silene · 20/08/2019 07:27

I checked a tin of treacle over a year old as I’d read they will explode if past the use by date. I emailed Fowlers or whatever, and they said best not to use!! I’ve used treacle well over a year old often and not blown up yet! But they know best..

TanMateix · 20/08/2019 07:46

I helped my mother do a good decluttering of her kitchen a couple of years ago and found a difficult to find dessert ingredient she had kept, because she was sure she would use it one day.

I said I was going to bin it, she said she would like to leave it as she still would like to have a go at making that dessert.

She very reluctantly put it in the bin when I reminded her she had brought it from her previous house, which we moved from in 1979.

Crankybitch · 20/08/2019 07:49

I though treacle was just sugar? And sugar doesn’t go off? Mine seems to always be off as I buy some then by the time I get around to baking with it it’s past the sell buy date...

kjhkj · 20/08/2019 07:55

tins do not explode if kept beyond their use by date. That's complete rubbish. I have stuff that is way older than that.

Stuff in tins without any dents that has been stored in a cool place will generally be fine well past the BBE date. Particularly treacle which is just sugar and will not go off.

The only things I've ever had go off are a tin of evaporated milk which got too hot and a tin of beans which was forgotten at the very back of a cupboard and hissed when it was opened.

dimsum123 · 20/08/2019 07:57

I always ignore best before dates, if it smells ok and isn't mouldy it gets eaten and we're all alive and kicking!

TenPastFugit · 20/08/2019 08:03

Yesterday and the day before, I ate a tin of tomatoes that went out of date in 2014. It was only when I was recycling the tin I realised how rank it looked and checked. I seem OK currently : /

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