Mumsnet users talk Best before and Use by Dates with Sainsbury’s

[EllieMumsnet]

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The team at Sainsbury’s would love to hear your thoughts on Best before and Use by dates for food and drinks. Do you know the difference between Best before and Use by dates? And which dates, if any, are you most likely to ignore? What foods are you most likely to bin if they’ve gone beyond their Best before date? And, more importantly, how do you use up food that’s gone beyond its Best before date – please share with us your tips! What food storage ‘rules’ do you tend to follow? And finally, how do you ensure you don’t have to throw away food?

Sainsbury’s says “We know there’s often lots of confusion around Best before and Use by dates, as well as how food should be stored properly to avoid it going to waste. So we want to hear your tips and tricks to avoid food going in the bin unnecessarily.”

Add your comment, tips and views to this thread and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £300 Sainsbury’s voucher.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T and Cs apply

I always look at the dates, especially if it is meat, If I have a couple of days left on some chicken, fish or mince, I will freeze the pack and defrost on the day I will be using it. I will not use meat when it has reached it's use by date.
With fruit and vegetables I am usually more lenient on the dates, I will go by look and feel. When kept in my fridge it generally lasts a week past the use by date. With vegetables nearing its best before I will blanche and freeze for another day, or make into a soup for work. It is a very rare event when I have to throw away food which I have had for too long.

I really hate waste so often disregard dates. I take notice of use by dates on meat and dairy, never veg. I would still go over the ubd on meat if it smelt and looked good fish and chicken would probably be my only exception to that. I only ever Serve the carb part of the meal on plates, I then let the kids choose from the dishes in the middle of the table, this is the best way for me to reduce waste as leftovers can go back in the fridge , I also find that the kids eat more if the choice is in their hands!

Best before dates I just use as a guide and happily use things after as long as they look/smell okay. I'm more cautious of use by, so will try and use things up by that date, or if it's something like meat I might batch cook and freeze a big meal in portions if I don't think we will eat it in time

Do you know the difference between Best before and Use by dates?
Yes, best before means unlikely to make you sick after that date but won't be at its best in quality. Use by is use by that date or it may make you sick. Basically.

And which dates, if any, are you most likely to ignore?
All of them. Use by I use as a guideline. Things don't go off when the clock strikes twelve so I use my own senses.
What foods are you most likely to bin if they’ve gone beyond their Best before date?
Possibly bread as that goes stale very quickly in my experience.
And, more importantly, how do you use up food that’s gone beyond its Best before date – please share with us your tips! What food storage ‘rules’ do you tend to follow?
Depends what it is, I usually freeze when approaching the use by/best before if possible and it won't be used. Otherwise I'll possibly batch cook something with the best before and freeze/eat that. Or I may google recipes to use it up.
And finally, how do you ensure you don’t have to throw away food?
If it can be frozen, it is. We've cut our waste a lot by doing this.

I know the difference between use by and best before dates but I completely ignore them and go by smell and sight instead. Our eggs come from a friend’s chickens so have no date stamp and our meat comes from the butchers. I try not to waste food and my freezer has all kinds of bags with stale breadcrumbs etc in it.

Do you know the difference between Best before and Use by dates?
Yes, one I take as a recommendation (Best Before), and the other i take a lot more seriously (use by)

And which dates, if any, are you most likely to ignore?
I don't ignore either, but use them more as an indication to check food more closely. I tend to use sight and smell as the best indicators for the state of food, I've bought fresh veg well within date to find it mouldy inside, and eat en stuff that is out of date, but perfectly fine.

What foods are you most likely to bin if they’ve gone beyond their Best before date?
Yeast is probably the only thing I'd bin indiscriminately, but that's only after using some and the yeats failing to work at all, so created some buns that could have been used to sink ships they were so heavy. :)

And, more importantly, how do you use up food that’s gone beyond its Best before date – please share with us your tips! What food storage ‘rules’ do you tend to follow?
I tend to par/ whole cook food and then freeze it, food is always frozen in individual portions, rather than batches for 4, just to be sure only the right am amount is defrosted

And finally, how do you ensure you don’t have to throw away food?
I meal plan a lot, and freeze a lot as soon as I get it, or make large meals in my slow cooker and then freeze the meals.

I ignore best before dates. I generally go by look and smell for other food. Am more cautious with meat and fish and will freeze if it reaches its use by but if it looks ok and it's a day over would still use it or freeze it unless it's seafood.

I never pay attention to the dates on my food, if it looks and smells ok then go for it! My brother on the other hand will not eat something if its out of date which is utter madness and he ends up throwing so much away. If I had young children I may pay a bit more attention to the dates.

'Best before' is the recommendation date and 'use by dates' is the last safe-to-eat date. I will most likely to ignore date on raw meat as I usually put straight into fridge or freeze on day of purchase.

I tend to bin dairy product (except cheese and egg) such as milk and cream (or use them up quickly like making pudding).

I tend to freeze most food and cook at a later date, or perhaps cook the food so it will last a couple more days in the fridge. :)

I tend to ignore the best before dates, it’s the use by date that’s the important one.

Meat, fish, milk, yoghurt - I’m usually strict about following use by dates on those.

Eggs, there’s the water test for freshness if they’re past the date on the box.

Hard cheeses, fruit, veg, breads - I'll eat those past the use by date if they look okay.

We’re trying to reduce our food waste by using the freezer more, and batch cooking food near it’s dates into meals for the freezer.
Not overbuying food is also important there!

Use by date I mostly stick to especially if it is meat. Sandwich meat is always chucked once use by date is reached or once the open for 3 day mark is reached which ever comes first. But dairy and things like stir fry veg are often use by and I will look and smell before chucking.

Best before eg milk never follow the date I have only ever smelt it. Eggs im the same with. If it smell good it's fine to use. Herbs will use well past best before. Veg come out of the packet before they go in the fridge so I only ever look and smell. The rulerror with veg is if it's furry, smelly or slimy chuck it.

The way I understand it is best before means the flavours, colour, feel of product may not be at its best once it passed it's best before but it is absolutely safe to eat if you want to.

Use by is the date the manufacturer can guarantee that the food is safe for consumption anything past that date is a risk as levels of bacteria and fungus can be present in unsafe measure by then.

I never throw away food the best before date is just a guide line for the supermarkets and I would even use food once it has gone past the use by date. You can use your own judge ment you can tell straight away from the smell of something if it's off. If I think it's on the turn or won't last I will freeze and any vegetables I will cook and then freeze them. There is no need to throw food just because the date has gone.

I will tend to buy things with long dates however with use by dates it will need to be either eaten by that date otherwise I will freeze it. Best before dates I will be cautious with but allow a bit of flexibility as I believe you can still consume after the date, how long is too long after though I am not sure. Baby food older then a few months I will not risk and end up throwing in the bin. Fruits and veg that look ok I will generally disregard the date, saying that I do have some medjool dates sitting in the cupboard that went out of date over a year ago....anyone know if this is still good to consume?

For meat I stick to use by dates and shove it in the freezer on the last day if I've got something that's going to go off. For fruit, veg, cheese etc I go by smell/texture.

Best before dates strike me as entirely pointless so I disregard those entirely.

I don't pay any attention to bbe or use by. I just look smell and sometimes taste.

Dh pays attention to both and condemns everything even a second over to the bin.

We've never been poorly so who knows...

Obviously me.... lol

We don't pay attention to best before dates at all. We are more cautious with use by but still only as a guide. If it looks/smells ok it gets used. Can't be doing with food waste.

Best before and use by are obvious indicators, best in it's prime state, use by be careful if you choose to use after the date but in either case the weather/season plays a part in how close attention I pay.

I don't ignore either use by or best before dates, they are useful guides.

Creamy things and milk that have been missed possibly because we returned home days later than planned, are the most likely thing to end up in the bin if they’ve gone beyond the date stamped on them.

To use up food that’s gone beyond its best before date I freeze or cook split and freeze what isn't finished that day so no waste.

I ensure I don’t have to throw away food by storing food in the fridge and cupboard so that dates can be easily seen and if necessary change plans for meals if foods can't be frozen.

I abide by the use by for meat, fish, milk and yoghurt but I am pretty relaxed about the dates for anything else. I will freeze meat on the use by date if I haven't got round to cooking it. I know this isn't the guidance we are given.

I think it is very easy to see when veg, cheese, bread or other items are no longer fit for consumption. I think best before dates can be quite misleading and contribute to food waste.

Conscious of how wasteful our family was previously regarding food (to my shame!), we now make a concerted effort to largely ignore “best before” dates if possible, to store food properly and to only buy what we can eat or reasonably store.

For me, “use by” dates are an absolute. We don’t cook or use any food which has exceeded this (even if it passes the “sniff” test!). We are more flexible with “best before” dates - the quality may not be at its best, but it will still be perfectly edible. I tend to use the sniff test to check whether certain items (fish / meats / dairy) are still acceptable.

For items such as veg (abandoned in the salad drawer!) which is looking a little soft, I tend to use this up in soups. Similarly for fruit, I tend to use overripe bananas in bread/muffins, apples in pie filling or as stewed fruit etc.

I tend to keep canned goods indefinitely - I don't really check for use by or best before dates on these items, as long as the can is not dented / impaired in any way which could let in bacteria.

A good tip for checking whether eggs are still good is the “float vs sink” test. Fill a glass two thirds full of water. Gently lower the whole egg into the glass - if it floats, it is not good to eat (as the air pocket inside has expanded). If it sinks, it is fine to eat! We often find that eggs last far beyond the dates shown on the carton.

I also make a concerted effort to store food properly (as per packet instructions), to monitor how long previously fresh frozen food (eg frozen on day of purchase) has been in the freezer, and to use airtight storage containers to help maximise shelf life.

I use my freezer alot and will buy food close to use by date and freeze. If its the same day I can be a bit more cautious about chicken as you need to allow defrost time. I rely alot on look and smell as well.

I do get cross with regards soft fruit - a friend gives me some and it will last 10 days to two weeks - I barely get 2 days from some soft fruits e,g raspberries and strawbs sometimes even becoming unuseable even before best before despite being kept in fridge etc. Same for some veg and its usually the expensive stuff too