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Housekeeping

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Original poster

How out of date is out of date? Where do you draw the line?

30 replies

Wavingnotdowning · 01/08/2021 20:00

In the middle of Marie Kondoing the house. Can't believe so many things are out of date. Obviously fresh foodstuffs are in the bin, but what about shoe polishes, nail varnish remover, pasta, food colourings, tonic water, TCP, Bonjela. I think I'm going to risk some!

Who's risked them and lived?

OP posts:
Babdoc · 01/08/2021 21:44

I’ve eaten suet four years over its sell by date, yogurt two weeks over, am still using garam masala that’s six years over….not dead yet!
When I was young, OP, we didn’t have dates. We used common sense and our eyes and noses. If food wasn’t visibly mouldy and didn’t smell off or musty, we ate it. There was much less food wasted, too.

Original poster
Wavingnotdowning · 01/08/2021 21:46

Yes - exactly, and come to think of it my spices are way out of date!!

OP posts:
Eleoura · 01/08/2021 21:52

I only throw it out if it smells bad, tastes stale or looks off. I rarely rely or even look at the dates!

Even make-up will be obvious if its past its best. Spices are much better when fresh in terms of flavour.

Isn't nail varnish remover acetone? Does that even go off?

gogohm · 01/08/2021 22:11

I threw out food especially spices dated pre 2010 when I moved. I've eaten 6 months out of date Stilton, 2 years out of date Easter egg and 5 year out of date canned sweet corn off the top of my head

Titterofwit · 01/08/2021 22:11

Smell and sight can tell you if foodstuffs are past their best. I am more careful with dairy stuff but otherwise take it as it appears.
With non food stuff I never even consider that there is a use by date. Its ridiculous putting a sell by date on shoe polish for heavens sake .What could possibly be wrong with shoe pollish a year out of date? A little drier maybe ? Thats about it .

HasaDigaEebowai · 01/08/2021 22:13

Unless it’s spoiled or rotten it’s fine. Why on earth would you throw away a nail varnish unless it’s dried out?

YupIHave · 01/08/2021 22:13

@Wavingnotdowning I would throw all of them away if I was not using them or couldn't even remember the last time I used them. No keeping things for just in case. 🙂

HasaDigaEebowai · 01/08/2021 22:14

That’s so wasteful though.

Tlollj · 01/08/2021 22:14

Eating sweet corn off the top of your head is impressive @gogohm.

NotMyCat · 01/08/2021 22:17

Nail polish remover I wouldn't bother about
I would open the shoe polish , might have dried up and be useless
Pasta will be fine. Open stuff and see j would go with!

Original poster
Wavingnotdowning · 01/08/2021 22:18

I do worry about out of date suncream though. Some people say it isn't effective even if it looks OK. I don't know if that's true or just a marketing ploy.

OP posts:
lljkk · 01/08/2021 22:18

What Eleoura said -- I trust my nose & taste buds, not printed dates.

SirusTheVirus · 01/08/2021 22:20

My husband looked at the date on some apples in Tesco today. I briefly considered divorcee. Who does that 🤷🏼‍♀️

SaveWaterDrinkGin · 01/08/2021 22:22

Sunscreen and meat are probably the only two things I pay attention to dates-wise.

Sunscreen really is a risk as it’s effectiveness will deteriorate over time.

The things like TCP and Bonjela might just not be as effective but I wouldn’t have thought would do any harm.

Pasta can’t go off surely?!

atlastifoundit · 01/08/2021 22:28

@Wavingnotdowning

In the middle of Marie Kondoing the house. Can't believe so many things are out of date. Obviously fresh foodstuffs are in the bin, but what about shoe polishes, nail varnish remover, pasta, food colourings, tonic water, TCP, Bonjela. I think I'm going to risk some!

Who's risked them and lived?

Pasta goes musty. Tonic water goes flat. Bonjela goes opaque and tastes weird.

Speaks the voice of experience, can you tell?! All the rest of it, fine to carry on. At least I hope so - the bottle of TCP I have in the bathroom cabinet has been there at least 25 years.

I have only in the last few months bought a new jar of nutmegs when my stash finally ran out. I bought those when I first got married in 1983.

YupIHave · 01/08/2021 22:30

@HasaDigaEebowai

That’s so wasteful though.

Depends how you look at it. If you can't remember using the items last, what's the point of keeping them? It's just clutter taking up room in your house. But then I am an aspiring minimalist so there is that.

Palavah · 01/08/2021 22:32

Spice - just use more than the recipe says. They won't hurt you.

Antwerpen · 01/08/2021 22:32

@Tlollj

Eating sweet corn off the top of your head is impressive *@gogohm*.
Boom tish Grin
Tambora · 01/08/2021 22:34

I have a jar of celery salt that is coming up to its 40th birthday. The saffron is from Ibiza and the last time I went there was in 1993.

Not telling you about the sugar flowers cake decorations that date from the 1970's

PattyPan · 01/08/2021 23:31

I only found out pasta has a date on it from a MN thread a few months ago. For the kind of stuff you’ve listed I wouldn’t even think to check the date, I’d just use it. The one exception would maybe be the bonjela but I’d probably use that within about 10 years of its date if it looked ok.
Just used some canesten that went out of date last year

loopylindi · 01/08/2021 23:40

These dates were introduced initially to help supermarkets with stock control. Who knew they would lead to so much food being wasted. Best before just means the quality won't be so good. Use by dates are more contentious. I've eaten yoghurt (that hadn't been opened until the event) that was over 6months beyond the date. Frozen food will gradually 'dry out' beyond its date - so again that's a quality issue. Bottled items should be watched as they might support mould growth once opened, but if unopened will keep for years. Tinned goods will keep for years too.

PattyPan · 01/08/2021 23:44

Agree it’s more about quality than safety in most cases, I cooked petits pains this morning that I had had in the freezer for ages. They had freezer burn so didn’t have the nice even golden crust but tasted completely fine.

Confusedandshaken · 05/08/2021 08:10

I made a curry last week with a sachet of coconut cream that was use by 2008. I reasoned that as it was vacuum packed and looked and smelt OK it probably was OK. It was delicious and I'm still here.

OTOH I am in the process of clearing my Dad's house out as he is moving to a care home. He had an open pack of butter in the fridge that was 9 years out of date and a block of cheese that was dated 2009. I cannot describe the smell of the butter (I didn't smell the cheese!). They both went in the food waste.

LemonWeb · 05/08/2021 08:20

I tidied my spice jars last summer and chucked away anything with a 20th century best before. I do adhere to use-by dates, mostly, but best-before just means you need to look at and sniff the thing before consuming.

Orangedaisy · 05/08/2021 08:23

I put the old (maybe a couple of years since purchase) factor 50 on myself and dp also uses it. Kids use the new stuff. Seems to work for us, and have now got better at working out how much we need every year.