have a four cheese pasta sauce in the fridge it is a week past best before date is it safe

[tinkhaseatentoomanyeastereggs]

hi have sauce in fridge

should i have it it will be cooking?

Best before means exactly that. If it is 'sell by' then you might be okay. Personally I'd bin it.

Is it in a sealed container?

If it hasn;t been opened and has been in the fridge I would sniff it and taste a bit and if it as ok, I'd heat it thoroughly and eat it.

I thought that "best before" would be ok but "use by" had to be respected?

But then I hate throwing food away and eat things well past their use by date and am still alive

A fresh pasta sauce would normally have a 'use by' date which means just that.

One day over I'd chance it, but a week, I'd definitely bin it.

Another time, if you arent sure you are going to use something by the date you could freeze it then take it out of the freezer the night before you needed it.

best before refers to non chilled stuff (tins, packet etc) and means exactly what it says that the food is at its best before the date stated - It is a suggestion and food will often be ok after the date.
Use by refers to fresh/ chilled stuff and generally means that the food is ok until the date, (according to the environmental health food safety course I went on)

I would be a sniff it and bin it if unsure person but I'd say a week over date is pushing it .

Sniff it, taste a bit, thats what I did with the mozarella cheese we had on our pizza for tea, it was a week out of date too. Nobody ill - yet

Sorry for getting my best before etc around the wrong way!