For potentially poisoning my family with my utter incompetence...

[PoorMissDior]

How in gods name does anyone remember when to throw out opened ketchup, jam, mayonnaise, pesto etc etc

Once opened these items need to be used within 6 weeks or 12 weeks or some other defined time period.

I was vaguely aware of this but it's just occurred to me that I have a fridge full of condiments and absolutely no goddamn idea how long they've been open for. Could be weeks, could be months, could be years. Who the hell knows.

How does anyone monitor this? Do you all have calendar alerts set up? sophisticated spreadsheets? beautifully written little time stamped labels?

AIBU for not having the faintest idea what is going on in my kitchen?

I’ve worked in catering before and if you’re not in a professional kitchen the answer is when they go mouldy or smell bad. Most condiments are crazy high in sugar, salt, oil or vinegar which are all natural preservatives so they’ll last a really long time as long as they’re sealed tightly each time. The guidelines on the jar or bottle are to cover the arses of the manufacturers so are ultra conservative.

I've got an open plastic jar of tahini in the fridge, been in there since the first lockdown. It looks and smells fine but I'm still a bit scared to use it to make hummus since it's not going to get cooked.

I was led to believe that tahini was effectively the same as peanut butter and would last for months or possibly years without going off, even if not in fridge.

I think the problem with things like pesto is that you have moisture from the basil, plus lots of different ingredients but no salt, vinegar or sugar to stop it going off.

Most things will taste bad way way before they would actually make anyone ill anyway.

I quite often have an open pot of double cream in my fridge well beyond its use by date.
If it smells ok, I use it.

Also been known to scoop the mouldy jam from the jar and eat the lower down bit.
Never had food poisoning.

My tahini jar was there since the previous viruses😂 Yeah, my DH claims it last for ever

@CounsellorTroi

I've got an open plastic jar of tahini in the fridge, been in there since the first lockdown. It looks and smells fine but I'm still a bit scared to use it to make hummus since it's not going to get cooked.

It'll be fine. It separates out so the oil sits on top and keeps any air out effectively sealing it.

I have a jar of tahini on the go for a few years at a time (however long it takes me to use it all up). Never found one to go off yet.

None of them need to be chucked within x weeks of opening. It's all a ploy to make you throw out perfectly good food and buy more, it should be banned.

Especially ketchup and jam, the whole point of them is that they preserve the fruit indefinitely, that's what they're for.

It's the chickpeas that can give you terrible food poisoning with houmous. I had it! God! I was so ill.

I write on the label, for things like kids vitamin D drops, pesto etc

Chickpeas are dangerous if not properly cooked. You'd know if hummus was "off"

Ketchup usually finished within the 6 weeks, jam etc lives in the fridge and would only get thrown away if moldy. Even keep salad cream past 6 weeks as long as it smells/looks ok

How does anyone monitor this?

Sniff it...
If you faint, it's off and needs to go in the bin.
If you don't, it'll be fine for another year or two.

I've not killed anyone yet...it may just be a matter of time.🤷🏻‍♀️

Jam only goes mouldy if the knife had butter on it It will last forever if it's not contaminated.

@HallFloor

Jam only goes mouldy if the knife had butter on it It will last forever if it's not contaminated.

I don't know if that's strictly true, my mouldy even though I use different untensils for each thing. However, no contamination does help with everything to keep longer. I never dip untensils into 2 things. That's why I have so much cutlery😂 And super old stuff in a fridge

@MatildaonaWaltzer

ketchup is full of vinegar, and will never go off. And I like it in the fridge.

But I am sad to hear about the Bailey's - surely last year's bottle will be fine if I give it a shake? It's the kind of thing that I want about once a year. Current bottle was school bottle tombola win, an absolute corker.

Baileys is fine, out the fridge & years 'out of date'. 😀

You label them or just remember?

@HallFloor

Jam only goes mouldy if the knife had butter on it It will last forever if it's not contaminated.

ditto marmite (too salty) and honey. I think they found some honey in an Egyptian tomb didn't they? And it was fine.

Depends what it is. Stuff like jam, chutney, pickles etc are all designed to last a long time. High acidity foods tend not to go off for yonks, especially if you're keeping them in the fridge.

Stuff that is low acidity and high density - e.g. peanut butter - will go off quite quickly, and c tries the risk of botulism which is odorless and will not be killed off by cooking.

*carries, not c tries

@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants I relied upon your kind note and took the traditional Baileys alongside the decorating of the tree - and I'm still alive, so it's a Christmas miracle etc etc. (the alcohol obv performing the vinegar pickling effect on this one... doh!)

Bailey's, when old, goes so thick it won't pour out of the bottle. I don't know how long it takes but have had it happen.

[quote MatildaonaWaltzer]@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants I relied upon your kind note and took the traditional Baileys alongside the decorating of the tree - and I'm still alive, so it's a Christmas miracle etc etc. (the alcohol obv performing the vinegar pickling effect on this one... doh!)[/quote]
Most excellent.

We should not waste a drop! 🙂

@daisychain01

There should be a campaign to get the food industry to make their Sell by/Use by dates much clearer.

Fresh soups and fresh pasta sauces are dreadful, you have to tilt the container so the food makes a dark background before you have a chance of reading it. They don't give a thought to people with sight problems (my mum has glaucoma so I'm acutely aware of this kind of thing).

My Mum had macular degeneration, and a lot of frozen ready-meals had black printing on a blue background-impossible to read.

@HallFloor

Chickpeas are dangerous if not properly cooked. You'd know if hummus was "off"

I thought it was only red kidney beans? To all you Baileys drinkers; how do you keep it long enough to go off?