Best before dates to be scraped

[ivykaty44]

here

Will effect those knocked down bargins but will hopefully stop masses of food being wasted

There will still be a guide line on the food IB, so you will have help

The system needs to be reformed because some foods really are dangerous after a certain date (shellfish), others are not dangerous but they're 'past their best' (loaf of bread) and others are none of the above (potato) and don't really need a sell-by date at all. It was originally introduced to help stores rotate stock. In a big supermarket the stuff whistles off the shelves and is replenished regularly. In a small corner-shop you can get stuff hanging around for years if you're not careful.

Ingrid, I'm with you. I feel a bit panicky about it tbh.

Thanks Ivy, that's good. Turtles, thankyou, I have trouble making decisions and feel very guilty if I get things wrong. Having this to worry about as well will just make life that big little bit harder.

I wish I had grown up wit that confidence around food, like those who can tell if something is good by prodding it or sniffing it or putting it in the bath and saying the Lord's prayer three times and seeing if it floats, etc etc. I wasn't taught much of that stuff and am a cooking avoider.

I know most people are cleverer than me in that way.

So in a way IB you have been affected by the seel-by dates in a negative way. Just go on mumsnet Food section if you're not and post a photo or something and say should I just eat it?

Oh, and it's not a cleverness thing - like you said it's taught. My DM and DGM are both sniffers/prooders/pokers and grew up in a house where if it wasn't running out of the fridge under it's own steam it was probably ok to eat.
The things I worry about are chicken and fish but again the smell and colour are usually a good give-away

Best Before was, apparently, confusing, although it's a sad indictment of society that so many people struggled to understand something that should be self-explanatory, fgs. Means exactly what it says on the tin!

Potatoes do go bad, btw. Wonder if we'll see many sprouting spuds in the supermarket once this comes in. They are dangerous and should not be eaten as they develop high levels of toxins.

Oh, and it will give dh yet more excuses to bring back out of date food from his ruddy mother. Have found three things with best before dates of JANUARY in the cupboard so far this week. And it's only Tuesday. A week or so over is fine but three months?!

Thanks Wot. I don't think they affect me negatively. I've been affected negatively by other things in my life but they have helped me switch off one part of my brain that was very anxious.

It's a bit like not being great at handwriting and someone taking away all the lines on the page, saying it will help you...iyswim.

"Potatoes do go bad, btw."

They do, but not overnight the day the sell-by expires and not if they're kept in a suitable place. We've all bought spuds with a sell by date, kept them in a dark, cool place, rubbed off any sprouts, cut off any bad bits, ignored the sell-by completely and cooked them anyway. If the potatoes on the shelf are already green, wrinkly or sprouting then most people simply wouldn't buy them.

I think it's very easy to tell if veg/fruit is past it but am more wary re meat ... Had a nasty case of food poisioning from chicken a couple of months ago and am now much more vigilant about use by dates on meat. I used to be pretty casual in a (now it transpires) reckless way ...

I used to be a bit more blaise about fruit and veg until ds1 was ill after eating some red pepper which should have been Ok but possibly wasn't. It's sometimes very quick when it's something really perishable like pepper. Spuds are one thing I can handle, there will be a lot of potato eating here

I know about the toxins so always ditch the green ones or the sprouting ones. Lentils keep forever too but you need to cook them for ages of course. Rice is Ok if stored uncooked, pasta etc. also easy. It will be a challenge but probably doable. It's things like shop prepared pizza, salads, that kind of thing that makes me nervous. So will probably avoid those things I suppose.

As a lifelong emetophobe and suffering from a natural state of 'guilt riddled', I am not qualified to make these decisions Ingrid. DH has helpfully told me to get a grip.

The only time I have ever had food poisoning was from something in date, looked and smelled fine. If I can't trust dates and my nose then I don't know who to trust. I need some kind of divine intervention during kitchen escapades.

Turtles I understand completely. Can you trust DH to cook? I don't have a DH but even if I did I'd still be worried about his 'standards' iykwim.

It's v difficult isn't it

Ingrid and turtles, I'm with you both. I never trust my nose and have often thrown out, probably fine, chicken because I can't decide if it smells funny or not. Fruit/veg doesn't worry me but other things do.

I have to trust him, it irks him if I even remotely sniff and prod anything. The thing is, he has a cast iron gut from years of not really caring about best before dates or the odd bit of mould. It's hard to make him understand that he can't apply the same laissez faire attitude to things I eat. I do cook. A lot. With stuff I've grown myself and cut/dug up/picked myself and with meat butchered by my brother, fish caught by my Dad etc. I find it very comforting to do it that way. I think in my head it's like I'm negating the need for best before dates by doing it as it's 'meant' to be done iyswim. I think it's hard to explain it to somebody who hasn't experienced it.

You should see me when we go camping. Not pretty. There are no fridges in tents.

Oh God yes I totally get it. I used to do that negation thing by being a vegan and refusing to eat anything processed, no sugar etc etc. I was a nightmare.

Then I stopped eating practically anything, stopped being vegan but also lost several stone and was dangerously underweight for four/five years. It wasn't classic anorexia, I was in my twenties...but it nearly killed me.

I am a bit better now, but have a total mental block around cooking and eating and even buying food...I avoid it as much as possible.

Sorry you have these kind of issues to but it is nice to meet you, as well

Aah we've met before... Not in person mind, but you 'know' me.

I thought I might, but didn't like to risk saying that!!

I owe you a PM really. Assume you know who I am now? Things been a bit hectic here. Pregnant and hiding it from the masses, doing up the house/garden. Plus my Mum's been diagnosed with something else (caused by her op and is not 'curable' as such). Know anything about lymphoedema? You're my go to girl with my ma's medical problems. I don't think many people know much about it tbh.

Oh oh oh I'm glad it's you, I thought so but wasn't sure!
Sorry, have been orf reading a blog for the last half hour so just seen this.

I will PM you in a sec x