to tell you that food that "doesn't go off" does go off

[Msplace]

There's labels on food that tell you to use it within a period of time of being open. I was advised those labels didn't matter and if it smells ok it probably is, and they're just designed to make you buy more food more often make money. Don't listen to people who tell you this! This poor advice made me very ill.

Agreed; as a caterer I eat things that I would never in a million years serve to the general public.

If I make myself ill, I suffer. Risking making the general public ill is an entirely different thing.

If we're talking about India, or any other country where the water may not be clean, then the general rule is peel it, boil it, cook it or forget it.

I wouldn't eat, for instance, a salad in India, where it might have been washed in unclean water. I'd eat a melon that had been freshly sliced with a clean knife, but not one that had been sitting around for hours - too much risk of things like flies landing on it and bacteria growing; washing won't remove all pathogenic bacteria in such a scenario.

The one time in my life that I got food poisoning, I got a bit lax in India and drank a lassi - which is milk-based, and neither boiled, cooked nor peeled. Big mistake!

I've literally never even thought about this, like ever. Spoon gets taken out of the drawer, I scoop yoghurt out, eat it, then put my spoon back in for another, then put in fridge if there's some left.

I'm still alive.

I've also eaten open yoghurt after 5 days too. Again, fine.

I very much doubt the yoghurt was the culprit. How do you know? But also people have vastly different tolerance levels for this kind of thing. If you've always been a stickler for the label rules you probably have very little tolerance.

Oh sod off 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Nah I'll still be going by my own smell and common sense, those dates just promote so much waste and get us to buy more of their products.

@eveoha So you didn't report it and therefore the watermelon presumably wasn't tested for EColi? How on earth do you know the watermelon was the cause of the illness then?

Agreed - Food standard agency advice is that the sniff test doesn't always work. this is because you can't smell some of the bacteria that make you poorly. Those who use this technique and "have been fine" are probably just lucky and it's a bit of a gamble. I've had food poisoning 3 times after eating out, so I am a bit more cautious. Yeo valley have removed the use in 3 days of opening from their yoghurt packaging and now say if it smells fine then it is safe to eat - but I'm. It convinced and I generally try stick within the 3 days of opening as yoghurt goes a bit sour after this time. I think the key is not buying too much in the first place then you don't have to take that gamble!

@Boriswentcamping totally agree with not buying too much. I'm guilty of that with yoghurt, I overreact to the special offers because they've become so bloody expensive so anything that's showing as £1 off atm I've been sucked in! I'll take on board your comment 👍

I have to disagree that yogurts are expensive. 1kg of Lancashire natural is 1.80in asda or thereabouts.
That's actually really cheap when I think about how much producing it takes. 😶

We've all got used to cheap food and low inflation, its all comparative. I'm not arguing that it isn't good value but when you've been used to Rachel's yoghurt being £1.50 and now it's £2.90 it means that a special offer seems too good to ignore. Times that by all the other food shopping that has also increased and its a lot.

All the home cooks must be really struggling without use by and best before dates on their food.

Have we really come to this?

Since best befores dont matter anymore i get soggy salad leaves and rotting carrots. It makes me boke.

And moldy bread

It's strange but every result says that "food may not look or smell spoiled"

Www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/diseases/staphylococcal.html%23:~:text%3DFoods%2520that%2520are%2520not%2520cooked,smell%2520bad%2520or%2520look%2520spoiled.&ved=2ahUKEwjH2YD-6IiAAxXVUqQEHSxRARQQFnoECA8QBQ&usg=AOvVaw0iks0CLlH5tWd7KciL5813

https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=te6322spec

https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-gb/professional/gastrointestinal-disorders/gastroenteritis/staphylococcal-food-poisoning

https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/staph-food-poisoning

https://www.valleycountyhealthsystem.org/about-us/news-events/latest-news/vchs-easter-food-safety-tips.html

That's not date issue but quality. I had issues woth veg and ftuitfor about months now. Basically stopped shopping in supermarkets and shop in foreign shops for these.
That said, carrots last ages date or no date.
I think you might really look at your fridge ir the way you store things.
I had one in one remgal which curled milk in few days...

*for about 9 months

I've had rotting supermarket carrots as well. It's not my fridge, I've had bad carrots taken out the bag on day of purchase so I will only buy loose now.