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 Once these go out of date, people dispose of them (if they are daft) or the supermarkets do if they aren’t sold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

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

It doesn't tell you if the egg is off though. It gives an idea of the age as the air pocket gets bigger. Eggs going off is usually to do with the shell being damaged so could happen even before the best before date.
Hens eggs with no shell damage that are clean and unwashed last for months - if in doubt open it and see if it's stinky. I've used eggs a year out of date stored at room temperature - they were fine. If more than a couple of months over I ensure thoroughly cooked i.e. hard boil or in a cake etc.
Fruit and veg ignore the dates. Tinned stuff mainly ignore unless fruit as the acid can damage the tin making it poisonous. Meat I stick.to the dates (or go over only by a day or 2). Yogurts last an extra month or 2 easily, cream usually lasts well, milk not so much but easy to tell if off and it's not toxic anyway just disgusting tasting.

I buy my fruit and veg from a greengrocer. It doesn't have any dates on it as hardly any of it has packaging. It keeps a lot longer than anything you can buy in the supermarket as it is collected from the wholesale markets in the city earlier in the day. Supermarkets need dates on their produce as it is stored in warehouses before being shipped to stores and sits around a lot longer. It goes off a lot quicker after you've bought it. The dates are needed as a guide to how long it will be before the produce goes slimy/brown/soft and sometimes it doesn't even make it to that date.
Of course anything that looks edible is edible regardless of the date.

No, they are not a ‘con’. They are a guide, and nothing more or less than that.

The problem is that some people are too stupid to understand the difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’.

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

I know a few people who work in different larger supermarkets and that is their experience, but can't speak for them all. There's an arrangement usually.

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.

Hopefully they would if near to going out of date, but I don't think they are allowed once it's actually gone over the date. Plus there aren't loads of charities that cook with fresh produce. Perhaps in big cities with homeless shelters or community cafes. But most supermarkets won't be near enough to do that.

@Sparklingbrook only if they have an organisation set up to collect produce from them. Plus there are some pretty strict standards that have to be adhered to and a desire from the staff to want to make it work. In reality donations consist mainly of bread.
In France they passed laws that supermarkets had to donate unsold food to charities. They seem much more forward thinking around food waste.

@SnackSizeRaisin

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.

Hopefully they would if near to going out of date, but I don't think they are allowed once it's actually gone over the date. Plus there aren't loads of charities that cook with fresh produce. Perhaps in big cities with homeless shelters or community cafes. But most supermarkets won't be near enough to do that.

fareshare.org.uk/giving-food/retailer-authorisations/

I think 'Best Before' is fine WRT fruit and vegetables donations, but probably not 'use by' which you would get on other food.

@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.

If it’s a con, it’s one required by U.K. for packaged vegetables/fruit. If vegetables/fruit go bad before the use by date you have right to refund, ergo sellers will put short use by date on there to offset losses for any that go bad early.

Don’t blame the vendors, it’s your law driving the behaviour.

[quote Jijithecat]@Sparklingbrook only if they have an organisation set up to collect produce from them. Plus there are some pretty strict standards that have to be adhered to and a desire from the staff to want to make it work. In reality donations consist mainly of bread.
In France they passed laws that supermarkets had to donate unsold food to charities. They seem much more forward thinking around food waste.[/quote]
Yes, Farsehare is the organisation that deals with it from what I have heard/read.

*Fareshare

@Snacksizeraisin I think you're getting your use by (legal obligation) and best before (food quality) dates confused.
Too Good To Go runs some great campaign on this subject.
toogoodtogo.co.uk/en-gb/campaign/commitment

It's a good thing. Means you can buy yellow sticker fruit and veg that's still good for days if not weeks if stored correctly

I think I had off egg only once in my life. Absolutely ignore the dates on them.

Re the packaged veg. I've realised it few weeks ago after similar topic here. Tesco veg has no date on it.

Some tesco veg. Sorry. Lost a word there

I have never had an off egg in my life. But I always break them into a cup just to check. I have only ever had one double yolk, sadly.

@Sparklingbrook Fareshare work with supermarkets like Waitrose and Tesco. Tesco also re-distribute some through Olio.
Neighbourly work with M&S and I'm not sure who else.
Some like the Co-op and Gregg's do their own food redistribution.
Too Good To Go also have 'magic bags' where places like restaurants can sign up to sell off their end of the day produce. I think this is a great idea but last time I looked at the app there wasn't great coverage in my area.

I haven't noticed any dates on fruit and veg I buy, so always go by my common sense. In fact I didn't know fruit and veg typically has a date on. I mainly shop at Aldi/lidl if that makes a difference! But I agree with you OP, absolute con!

[quote Jijithecat]@Sparklingbrook Fareshare work with supermarkets like Waitrose and Tesco. Tesco also re-distribute some through Olio.
Neighbourly work with M&S and I'm not sure who else.
Some like the Co-op and Gregg's do their own food redistribution.
Too Good To Go also have 'magic bags' where places like restaurants can sign up to sell off their end of the day produce. I think this is a great idea but last time I looked at the app there wasn't great coverage in my area.[/quote]
Yes, I posted the link to the larger supermarkets Fareshare work with, that's the company I have heard about.
In my nearest town there's a food bank and they are supplied by the smaller retailers like Spar/Premier etc. They always credit on social media the shops that have donated that week, so I think here, at least things are well covered.

The only time I've ever found these dates to be accurate is for the ready to cook corn on the cob. They don't half start to rot quickly.

I ignore all over BBDs on fruit and veg

I almost exclusively only buy loose now (to save on plastic). That includes taking reusable tubs into the butcher/fishmonger. Despite almost never seeing a date on anything, I manage not to let food get to the point where it must be thrown. Neither have I poisoned myself.

The only time I've ever found these dates to be accurate is for the ready to cook corn on the cob. They don't half start to rot quickly.
Ah yes, the white slime and the fermented smell if it's even an hour past it's use by is eye watering

YANBU.

I never bother looking at the dates on fruit and veg. I have had things go off way before the best before date and other items last weeks past!

I just feel it, smell it and look at it and if all seems fine then I eat it, otherwise I chuck.

The stuff that turns up in our veg box doesn't have dates on it so we use our senses of sight, smell and taste to determine how long they are edible for, as our ancestors used to do in days gone by.
We are still alive.