Use by dates

[hourstokill]

We have a Tesco ready meal in the fridge it's 2 days out of date...

I threw it... hubby says he would have eaten it?

AIBU for throwing it

Explain to us what science it is then and why they may be variables etc in this science.

They are used as a guide and many retailers will put an earlier use by date, for caution. The best thing is to do a smell and judgment of texture. I hate food waste, and trying to reduce how much I throw away, by freezing before use by dates of cannot eat it before it goes off or feed all my friends 😀

Ready meals have no bacteria in them (I saw it in a documentary once) so they're probably fine 2 days after. However my husband would have chucked it on the day itself

To keep fresh fruit like strawbs and raspbs from growing hairs and green stuff (lol), decant them into a bowl of cold water, add a couple of teaspoons of white vinegar and swish the fruit around in the mixture. Leave for about 15 minutes. Put in sieve or colander and rinse off the vinegar mix thoroughly. Drain on kitchen paper, then put in clip boxes or similar.

The vinegar keeps the fruit from growing mould. There is no vinegar aftertaste once you rinse the fruit thoroughly.

Yes to this^
I would throw it away in your case and actually just threw away something which was 12 hours out of date. It’s unfortunate that you forgot about this but I never risk mine, DD’s and DH’s health in these situations. There are examples around when people were very unwell after eating something, I don’t want to be another case. And to be honest even a bout of diarrhea wouldn’t be welcome in our house - we all have commitments and there is only one bathroom.

🤣🤣🤣 this is so true

That's ridiculous. Whether your fridge was set to 3 degrees or 4 degrees would have a much bigger effect than those few hours.

It’s got right degree.

It would depend on what the meal was. If it was veggie I would probably eat it, but not if it was fish, and I'd recommend to family members to chuck meat based meals too. I'm normally quite good at checking on dates in the fridge though - and getting things moved to the freezer.

What do you mean by 'still' ? What has changed to make it more or less of a worry? I get that someone struggling for money is less likely to waste food - but I would have thought they would be more on top of dates to ensure they didn't .

A quick sniff test is enough. If it smells fine and looks fine it is right to eat.

@Mademetoxic yeah I get that . Several people were saying the same. It was your use of the word 'still' that I was querying - it's as if it was something you thought they may have been bothered about in the past but shouldn't be now.

YABU they are a guide not law - if it smells ok eat it. I also regularly re heat rice and never had a problem.

I wouldn't have eaten it, my stomach is very sensitive. I don't eat ready meals at all though. My DP would have eaten it with no issues. My Mum could eat anything.

It depends. Long term veggie here.

I know the high risk foods for poisoning like rice and pasta so I'm careful about those. Everything else is fair game as long as it looks and smells OK. I cook mostly from scratch and we don't eat the fake vegan food like "chikun" and "sheeze".

When even the rock salt carries a use by date I think it has all got a bit ridiculous.