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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:

Youvegotafriendinme · 20/08/2019 08:13

I agree with PP. I’m early 30s and don’t even look at BB or SB dates. I have no issues taking off bits of mould if the rest is ok. My in-laws throw absolutely everything away that’s out of date by 5pm that day! The amount they throw away is disgusting and I regularly end up with bags of food out their cupboard/fridge.

My DH was helping clean out his Dnans house after she died and there was a packet of suet that went out of date in 1986.

FeltCarrot · 20/08/2019 08:15

My DM happily told me at the weekend that she had had a lovely lunch of beans on toast that she had found at the back of her cupboard...they were best before 2004!
San as lists of other posters have already said gravy granules isn’t gravy, it’s just brown salty water. Learn to make proper gravy woman!

Raphael34 · 20/08/2019 08:21

I’d be a bit more careful if I were you. Even granules do go off after a few years. Does anyone else remember the grandmother who killed her grandchildren with ten year out of date hot chocolate?

listsandbudgets · 20/08/2019 08:22

I found a can of sardines marked October 2005 recently. Seemed fine (or at least I'm not dead yet!) In my defence I didn't spot the date until after I'd eaten them.

They must have moved house with me at least 3 times

Peregrina · 20/08/2019 08:24

Out of date herbs end up tasting like sawdust, so don't really enhance the flavour. I have just chucked some out. Late DM had a tin of dried custard which was so old, it sort of decomposed - I can't quite explain it, but it clearly wasn't fit to use.

Bridget1983 · 20/08/2019 08:24

Haha - once when in my mid 20s found some baking stuff in my mums cupboard from the year I was born!
She was furious that I binned it!

senua · 20/08/2019 08:30

I've just checked my cupboards: my gravy granules - beef and chicken - both went off in 2017. I don't know how because I'm sure that I only replaced them last month or year or ...
I do know that I bought them to replace the previous lot which were about a decade out of date. I really should stop buying the stuff because I only use it about once every other year.

gingersausage · 20/08/2019 09:11

I use gravy granules because I’m vegetarian and sadly you don’t get pan juices from a Quorn roast

gingersausage · 20/08/2019 09:16

@Raphael34 it was 25 years out of date and they got food poisoning, they didn’t die. This is how stories get blown out of proportion. You say something happened and then other people report it as fact when it isn’t. A quick google shows the truth.

Rainbowknickers · 20/08/2019 09:18

My dad once told me that our noses are above our mouths for a reason
If it tastes/smells fine it’s ok to eat

My grandad went by the rule of thumb that if the dog refused to eat it then neither would he

The dog got really arsey when she had to go on a diet

ginghamtablecloths · 20/08/2019 09:26

You clearly didn't kill them and I'll bet loads of us have got old food items lurking at the back of cupboards just waiting to do us harm.

If I were you I'd replace this item with a smaller tin as it sounds like you don't use it very often and ditch the old one, just in case.

I think I'll go and check my own cupboards now.

BikeRunSki · 20/08/2019 09:33

A few years ago, DM made Christmas pudding with suet which had a price sticker on it in shillings. It didn't taste great (but that is standard for DM's cooking) but we all survived.

stucknoue · 20/08/2019 09:36

I'm using ingredients with best before dates in the 2000's. Dried ingredients and unlikely to make you ill, they simply deteriorate in flavour, pretty sure the veggie gravy at home is 2017

OMGshefoundmeout · 20/08/2019 09:38

When my dad was dying in the 1990s, I used to while away the time not spent at his bedside by sorting out the kitchen cupboards. I threw away packets of sauce mix/cake mix/spices/coffee that were still priced in old money so were at least 30 years old if not older. They had moved house at least 4 times in that 30 years. And not just a couple of items but many, many things. That was nearly 30 years ago and I’m sure Mum has spent the intervening years stockpiling more so I can repeat the process when she goes.

OMGshefoundmeout · 20/08/2019 09:39

20 years not 30.

IsobelRae23 · 20/08/2019 09:41

When I moved in 2015, I emptied my store cupboard and some (many) dates were from 2000-2008. Exdp took the piss ‘and you said you would never turn into your grandmother for keeping stuff!’. I guess it runs in the family 🙈

TonTonMacoute · 20/08/2019 09:51

YABVVU to use gravy granules - processed crap!

OhGodWhatTheHellNow · 20/08/2019 09:53

I'm more likely to bin old spices as the main flavour bits are volatile and diminish over time (more, not always!) Anything else, I take a view.

I used a two year old carton of passata last week and regretted it, but it may have always been rank, not used it before (bought and forgot) - anyone have an opinion on Lidl passata?

Sparklypurpleunicornsaremyfav · 20/08/2019 09:57

I've done this numerous times with cupboard stuff and flavoured oils ie peanut, sesame etc and so far have not killed anyone!!! 😂 😂 😂
Oh and my hubby is a former chef, he still uses granules as thinks it enhances the flavour, and what do you use if your making gravy for something other than a roast dinner ie sausage and mash?

BIWI · 20/08/2019 10:17

These are the ingredients of Bisto Gravy Granules:

Potato Starch, Maltodextrin, Palm Oil, Salt, Wheat Flour (with added Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Colour (E150c), Sugar, Flavourings (contain Barley), Flavour Enhancers (E621, E635), Emulsifier (E322) (contains Soya)

Not sure there's much to go off there!

And also note - there's no meat in them ...

Lasteleven · 20/08/2019 10:21

YANBU The only right course of action would be to turn yourself in before you do any more damage. Police and social services are probably already in court trying to force MN to reveal your identity.

LadyRannaldini · 20/08/2019 10:35

I noticed a tub of some dried herb I didn't use, bought for some obscure recipe in the NAAFI. We stopped working with the military in the mid 80s!

iklboo · 20/08/2019 10:48

Staying at MIL's we found an open jar of seafood sauce seven years out of date. She was still using it.

mindproject · 20/08/2019 10:52

There are YouTube videos of people eating tinned food that is 60 years out of date. I would probably eat food up to 5 years out of date if it looked, tasted and smelt fine.

YABU

I lost faith in manufacturers and their dating system when they told us to use shampoo within 12 months. It's a scam.

MiltonRoad · 20/08/2019 10:54

Lidl passatas fine- if it tasted rank it was probably off

If we’re having sausage and mash I make nigellas onion gravy

Granules are disgusting anyway

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