Use it or lose it?

[Izzy24]

Unopened pack of smoked salmon in the freezer….use by date December 2020.

I want to use it.

Go for it. You'll probably live.

Use it, why wouldn't you, assuming that your freezer is at the correct temperature.

Once something is in the deep freeze, it's like pressing a pause button. They've found food dropped decades ago by explorers in the Antarctic that's still safe to eat.

Something that's been in a domestic freezer for a couple of years will almost certainly be safe to eat.

I wouldn't - aren't you supposed to throw away frozen things after a month?

It’s fine.

Assuming you didn't put it in the freezer AFTER that date, it'll be fine.

Seriously?!

Please tell me you don't do that?

I would try it, I found a whole side of smoked salmon clearing out my mums freeze, that was a couple of years past its best before date. We ate it and it was fine, no ill effects but we did need a bit more lemon juice than usual with it

I usually throw things away according to manufacturer instructions. But I'm overly cautious after I had a very nasty case of E. Coli poisoning several years ago. Although that was from a takeaway!

What? No! Where on earth did you get that idea? Most things last for years and years frozen, some (like bread) might deteriorate a bit in quality/texture, but will still be perfectly safe to eat. Nothing needs to be chucked after a month! That would negate the whole point of freezers!

Smoked salmon from 2020 - I'd use it, no question.

It's fine as long as it was within date when it was frozen and it has been kept frozen the whole time since then.

When food is frozen it's safe to eat indefinitely. There's that famous case of people in Russia eating frozen woolly mammoth meat during an emergency situation.

That's not to say the quality doesn't decline over time - taste and colours may change, usually becoming blander, and it's also possible the container will react with the food, though this isn't a worry if it's in the packaging you bought it in.

But safety wise it's fine to eat even after decades or millenia. To degrade it needs bacteria etc. which can't be active when the food is properly frozen.

Thanks for your replies- will definitely use.

(Which is what I would usually do but have a visitor staying … is that you Lemieux7? 😊)

Have turned the pack over so they can’t see the use by date.

I understand that is around the fact that the outward appearance and/or taste can be impacted the longer something remains frozen but doesn't impact on its safety.

I belive the only ones with month or so are the high temp freezers.
Most freezers I've seen run to - 18. It's totally fine ven after years. The only thing which can really happen is chang in consistency. Hence why they have recommended storing times. Some things do go weird consistency wise afyer too long in freezer

So we ate it for lunch. It was a bit tough and salty.
We didn’t finish it. Visitor said give it to the cat.

It’s going in the bin in case the cat voms or carks it.