AIBU? Use by dates on food.

[FrostyChocolateMilkshake]

I cannot seem to get a clear answer on Google so I wondered what the good people of Mumsnet would do!

Was rummaging in my fridge yesterday evening and found salmon and chicken that had expired on the 28th Jan (yesterday was the 29th in case anyone has lost track of dates )

Both looked fine and the packs haven't been opened and. I hate throwing food away, so I stuck them both in the freezer.

Was this safe to do? I wouldn't usually touch chicken or salmon a day out of date (I normally meal plan throughout the week so all food gets eaten before the use-by date) but I thought if it's only one day and the packs haven't been opened they would be OK.

Anyone else do this? Or should I get the food back out of the freezer and chuck it?

(FWIW I don't have children, if that is relevant)

I would also use it if it smelled ok (they will have built a margin for different performances of fridges/time taken to get home from the supermarket and ours is quite new and very efficient plus we have home delivery) but I would probably cook it rather than freeze it.

Just make sure you haven't lost your sense of smell first!

So by that logic why does food sometimes go off before the use by date? If the labels are so accurate and able to predict when a specific piece of meat or fish has gone off?

It's not my logic so I can't answer.

I would have cooked them, rather than freezing. You could then have frozen the cooked stuff, if you didn't want to eat it anytime soon. However that does require you to stop what you're doing and start cooking, which may not have been convenient.

@smoothchange

So by that logic why does food sometimes go off before the use by date? If the labels are so accurate and able to predict when a specific piece of meat or fish has gone off?

It's not my logic so I can't answer.

Maybe an issue with labeling at the processing plant, contaminated packaging, or maybe the meat was not kept cold enough somewhere between the processing plant, delivery lorry, shop and your fridge.

My husband has never taken notice if use by dates for himself, even when we ate meat, fish and dairy, but in the 38 years I've known him, hes never had an upset stomach. I, on the other hand, used to be paranoid about such things and yet regularly had a bad stomach. Probably just depends on how sensitive your body is.

@AlwaysLatte

Just make sure you haven't lost your sense of smell first!

definitely - wondering about the wisdom of a campaign to smell foods to check if they are safe to eat in a pandemic where a key symptom is loss of smell and taste.

I've often done exactly this, OP - chucked them in the freezer and then doubted myself! I think try to use them ASAP now, but if they seem ok it will probably be fine. I would imagine the use by dates are a cautious estimate by the manufacturer - it must be very hard to say exactly when the product's going to turn so they surely give you a date at the earliest end of a guesstimated range.

I'd have done the same, and have done in the past with no ill effects. In fact I ate chicken this week that had gone in the freezer on the 3rd January with a use-by of the 2nd. I'm here to tell the tale. You'll be fine

Having worked in a food factory and seen how dates are calculated, I always just use my senses - I never rely on dates.

I would have opened, cooked and frozen.

I would do what the op did. Safer still is probably to cook first and then either freeze or eat within 1-2 days.

Opening and then freezing is the worst option. Once it's open the clean air is gone and bacteria can enter. Once opened it should be used straight away.

It's fine, just remember to use them straight away once defrosted, and cook thoroughly!

The other member of my bubble who was visiting me brought some cream with her. I put it in the fridge and then for some reason we didn't use it. When I did notice it lurking at the back of the shelf, I used it, and because I don't usually have cream I used it instead of yoghurt, cursing that we hadn't had it with something when she was visiting between 17th and 22nd December (legal: we live in the same tier and she was already there when the Christmas hoo-ha started.)

So on 31st December I made a mushroom stroganoff and it was delicious.

It wasn't until I was washing out the carton the following morning before putting it into the recycling that I noticed the Best Before date on it was 25th July, and she must have brought it with her when she visited during the summer.

Oops. I have this feeling that the Best Before date may have been either pessimistic or a way to get people to throw out perfectly good cream and buy more.

Not everything even had dates on, I’ve started getting a fresh fruit & veg delivery that doesn’t come in packaging and no dates and often get meat from the butchers so no dates there either.