what actually needs to be refrigerated and used within three days of opening??!!

[principalitygirl]

Food storage labeling seems to have gone OTT in recent years. My fridge is always packed full and with a lot of stuff I wonder whether it really needs to be there or could happily live in a cupboard so I could store more fresh fruit and veg! Curry paste, chutneys, salad cream, mayo, ketchup, jam, tomato puree, pesto... And then there's stuff which is labeled 'refrigerate and use within ridiculously short timeframe'! E.g. standard pack of cooked meat, raw bacon, yoghurt etc. I tend to err on side of caution with that stuff but hate throwing stuff out all the same.
What do you do? Ours is a pretty standard fridge bit of a fridge freezer. Or does everyone have a double American style fridge freezer or buy fresh stuff every 3 days?! (I doubt it!)

Nothing lasts very long in my fridge

I never read the packaging...

If it's mouldy, smells off or tastes bad, then it goes. Well, most of the time. Sometimes it's just mould that can be cut off, eg with cheese, but we don't often have things long enough for that to be the case.

If I look at the fridge and there seems to be more fresh meat or fish than I think we can reasonably consume in the coming days, I freeze it. If it's fruit or veg, then I cook it followed by freezing if we're not eating it all straight away.

We throw out very little in the way of 'proper' food, mainly odd food scraps are what go in the bin, or bones, egg shells etc. In the past I found that I was lying to myself about the quantity and type of fruit and veg we needed and overbuying, then forgetting, which ended in chucking stuff out. I'm a lot more practical now! I do the same with jars of stuff as I dislike having the super packed top shelf of jars that seems to accumulate so easily.

I tend to throw stuff like sliced ham/turkey away after about that time as I don't fancy it any more after that time.

one of the reason some modern foods like jams, pickles and sauces have to be refrigerated, is that (because people refrigerate them) the formula has been altered to remove some of the salt, sugar, vinegar and other preservatives that were needed in "the old days"

I take no notice of what the label says. As long as it smells fine then we eat it. Ham and sandwich fillers, I make sure are all wrapped up well.
I think it's an excuse to make us buy more !!

weelady77 -

pigletjohn - who'd have thought it? I'd prefer a few preservatives and more room in my fridge!

summerdaydreams -I'm with you on the conspiracy theory.

Homous is about the only thing guaranteed to start bubbling and tasting odd on it's use by date.

Mozzarella seems to be able to read too.

Everything else, you stand a fair chance will be fine.

And I agree, modern low salt, low sugar, low vinegar, no keeping pickles and jams are a pita.

Curry paste - cupboard
chutneys - cupboard
salad cream - cupboard
mayo - fridge
ketchup - cupboard
jam - cupboard
tomato puree - cupboard
pesto - cupboard

If any of the above go mouldy, I scrape off the mould and use as usual.

packs of cooked meat, raw bacon, yoghurt etc
They get kept in the fridge until they smell, go slimy or green, or dry out completely.

We very rarely throw things out here and no-one has died yet.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" etc