Do you eat food past its sell by date?

[jenk1]

I dont normally but FIL who works at a cash and carry keeps giving us things just past their date, i wont eat them but dh and the kids do.

I have some fresh tomato and herb pasta sauce in the fridge from asda, it says best before yesterday but ive never eaten anything thats gone past its sell by date, what would you say?

Best before isn't the same as sell by or use by.

Best before is a question of quality, so you can use it, it just might not be as good as before the BB date ( I have nutmeg that has a BB date than ran out about 2 years ago but I rarely use it)

Use by is different, it's normally on fresh foods and then there is a danger that it could be off. Personally I'd have a good look and if it tasted and smelt OK I'd eat it up to a couple of days past. I'd use the sauce tbh.

As long as it seems OK I'd use it - it's not as though the food knows what date is stamped on the package!

my dh used to have a store of things that were years out of date, and will happily eat anything that has not got actual mould growing on it.

i am quite scrupulous though - i think fruit and veg is ok so long as it looks and smells it, but would always ditch meat, fish, dairy etc

All the time. I use the whiff test and it's never done me wrong.

Certain things I generally don't risk at all like chicken. Most things I am happy to use a day or 2 after their date provided they look/smell Ok. I wouldn't use something before its date if it looked or smelt wrong though.

I wouldn't worry about tomato and herb pasta sauce if it smells ok. I'd be more careful about meat but if it's only a day or two and smells ok, I'd probably use it, especially if it has to be cooked first, cooking kills salmonella.

Depends what food it is. With chicken, ham etc I use a smell test. With yoghurts I ignore the date stamp, if it's fizzy it's off! Such a scummy mummy!!

I am happy to go a few days over the date with most things (but NOT meat / fish / chicken)

things like yogurts are normally fine after the best before date, but i always try a tiny bit forst and smell it etc and IF IN DOUBT I CHUCK IT OUT!
As for fruit and veg.... they GROW etc and its only the packers that put silly dates on them! if you grow it your self you wouldnt have a clue anyway, so as long as it seems ok its ok, (and most fruit / veg kept in the fridge do last for weeks (tho the longer they are kept after picking, the fewer vitamins they contain)

also there is a difference between best before and use by: technically things CAN be eaten after best before date (tho may contain different amounts of vitamins / minerals etc) where as things really should NOT be consumed after use by dates.

I figure the longer it lasts the more likey it is to be ok, the jam / tomatoe hetchop would be fine a week or month or so later, where as i only give fridge things a couple of days.

Also most things that i feeze i would use months and months later

best before just means that is best to eat b4 the printed date according to manufacturors (ie if u have a thing for green fuzz u can eat it years after if u like ;))

I am the same as everyoine else in that i eat if it smells/looks fine but not meat etc

i also do the fizzy yoghurt thing...if it looks normal i eat it, don't always give it to the ds's tho.

pasta sauce 1 day after the bb date is fie imo

I'm fairly lax about best before dates but the rest of the family are ultra cautious which drives me crackers. If it looks and smells ok I'll give it a go - but not if it is days and days over. Not been sick yet!

thanks everyone