To think best before dates on fruit and veg are a con?

[Soubriquet]

You buy your package fruit and veg and they have a few days shelf life. Once these go out of date, people dispose of them (if they are daft) or the supermarkets do if they aren’t sold

Yet, if you pick up loose fruit and veg, there are no dates and you need to use your common sense of when they need to be disposed.

Yabu

YANBU. And as someone said on here before, these items aren’t self aware and know to go off on the designated date.

Look at it, touch it, smell it. If nothing offends you then eat it. If it offends you a bit then put it in a soup.

I never pay attention to best before/use by on fruit or veg, we keep it in the fridge anyway and you can tell if it's off. Meat I'm much more wary of and egg too.

Packaged or not, I just keep checking the condition of the fruit and veg and use it if it's still in good condition. Same with a number of fresh items.

@freeez

Yabu

Why?

I never take notice of use by dates tbh. I use the sniff test and have a good look at it. If it looks alright and smells alright, it’s good to be eaten

It is hard to “feel” if packaged fruit and veg is still ok. So they put a date on it to avoid selling stuff that’s turned.

Once it’s home, I will open and feel if it’s still good or not, and completely ignore dates.

Do the larger crates the loose fruit and veg come in not also have dates?

Do the larger crates the loose fruit and veg come in not also have dates?

Never really noticed tbh

YANBU.
My DH will not eat anything even one day passed its date, despite having eyes and a sense of smell. He would waste so much if I didn't stop him.

It does depend.
I've bought broccoli and carrots that turned very quickly and before their best before dates but many fruit and veg should last longer than their dates.
I think that you need to look and smell it .
Strangely enough, berry fruits seem to go off way before their use by dates.

YANBU, I never go by the date on fruit and veg. FIL gives us a lot of stuff from his allotment and that doesn't come with a date.

@MinesAPintOfTea

It is hard to “feel” if packaged fruit and veg is still ok. So they put a date on it to avoid selling stuff that’s turned.

Once it’s home, I will open and feel if it’s still good or not, and completely ignore dates.

Do the larger crates the loose fruit and veg come in not also have dates?

Yes, the do. We used to call it 'rolling' when I worked in a supermarket years ago. If there were whole cages of crates of fruit/veg that were on the next day's date for example, they'd just change the date to the next or a few days' time. I don't know if that's still done now, I am going back 20 years. There should be very strict punishments for supermarkets just binning perfectly good produce because a date has been printed on the box that decides if it can be sold or not.

Yet, if you pick up loose fruit and veg, there are no dates and you need to use your common sense of when they need to be disposed

The dates are there for the supermarket staff to see, just not very obvious to the average customer.

I once went shopping at 7am in a well known supermarket, there were 2 staff taking the wrapping off the (out of date) prepackaged broccoli and putting it in a tray to be sold as loose!

@Hardertobreathe - I'm actually glad they do that. Obviously no way with meat but veg is easy to tell if it's ok. Saves a lot of waste doing that.

They’re a guess!

Best before dates on anything are safe to ignore, not just fruit and veg?

Yet, if you pick up loose fruit and veg, there are no dates and you need to use your common sense of when they need to be disposed
This us my argument every single week at work.
I keep telling which ever staff us getting the shipping in for the weekend to buy fruit and veg loose so we are not chucking it out in Tuesday( for example) if we don't use them and they are perfectly fine.

A butternut squash can have a date giving it about a week, but in reality they last months! It’s infuriating and ignorant if people only go by dates and don’t feel/look/smell etc

I use sight and smell test. I bought a butternut squash months ago... was reduced to 10p because of the date. It is still in my kitchen waiting to be used. Is fine.

Best before isn’t the same as use by

@meow1989

I never pay attention to best before/use by on fruit or veg, we keep it in the fridge anyway and you can tell if it's off. Meat I'm much more wary of and egg too.

Do the water floating test for eggs. Far more reliable than dates.

@Soubriquet

You buy your package fruit and veg and they have a few days shelf life. Once these go out of date, people dispose of them (if they are daft) or the supermarkets do if they aren’t sold

Yet, if you pick up loose fruit and veg, there are no dates and you need to use your common sense of when they need to be disposed.

Yanbu, but a lot of people really don't have any common sense anymore, unfortunately.

If people take any notice of dates on fruit and veg then there's not a lot that can be done for that amount of stupid.

Check out the work that www.TRJFP.com do. They're rescuing surplus food and campaigning to change the system.

Best before dates are a huge part of the problem.

Once these go out of date, people dispose of them (if they are daft) or the supermarkets do if they aren’t sold

AFAIK any prepackaged fruit and veg with a date on is given to charity by supermarkets, not thrown away once that date passes, providing it is still perfectly ok.

@Sparklingbrook

Once these go out of date, people dispose of them (if they are daft) or the supermarkets do if they aren’t sold

AFAIK any prepackaged fruit and veg with a date on is given to charity by supermarkets, not thrown away once that date passes, providing it is still perfectly ok.

Some do, but a lot just chuck it in the bin.