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

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We don't tend to pay attention to best before dates. If we buy something that is past its best before date, we will eat it in the next day or two otherwise we stick it straight in the freezer for a later date. A lot of it is common sense though i think. If it smells or looks off, then obviously dont eat it!

Hate, hate, hate the needless unnecessary waste caused by "Best before " dates. Struggle to understand how people can waste money and resources like this. Admittedly, as a vegetarian, I feel I have far less to fear. All processed jarred, tinned, baked goods, crackers etc, will examine, sniff, taste and see. Generally fine. Had to draw the line at ten year old crackers for cheese, sadly forgotten at very back of larder - not mouldy, but pretty rancid! More cautious with "use by", but: regularly use eggs weeks out of date, after checking, and always cooked well. Never been ill. Ditto cheese and yoghurt. It is really obvious when they are actually bad. I don't buy milk, so the things I find most likely to spoil are fruit and salad stuff. And the odd rare case of "fizzy" hummus or coleslaw! The latter two are a no-no, though not usually till days after the date, but all fruit or salad "on the edge" can be frozen and added to puddings, soups and stir fries etc. as appropriate. The freezer really is the answer to stop food waste in the home. Even bread can be frozen and withdrawn in appropriate portions. Food waste is insignificant in our home, truly horrified by waste, though I appreciate that it would be harder to deal with without a freezer.

I will always stick to the dates on the products and will never go over them.

Ignore dates, (never used to have them) use common sense regards meat look at it etc yogurts do not eat if blown or green on top milk goes sour it is all easy too much waste,

I use best before dates to guide my shopping but don't look at them again one I've bought the food. Instead I am guided by look and smell. I pay strict attention to use by dates for meat, fish, eggs, cheese, etc. and will never use them beyond this date. I will usually use produce up before then and rarely throw things away

If it smells or looks a funny colour it has to go, but otherwise it’s fair game in this house! I always think how nothing got wasted in years gone by when there was no such thing as these dates. Food doesn’t suddenly go bad on the date printed on packet

We have a shop which sells cans etc with expired best before dates cheaply and I will happily buy them. I take note of use by dates, however if it is something like cheese and it is not mouldy I would use it.

I am vegetarian, so do not have to worry about dates on meat or fish. With other things, I use my common sense. If it looks and smells okay, then I will use it, but I know the difference between 'use before' and 'best before', which is very important.

I note the Best Before date and monitor the product thereafter, but normally find it's OK for a while. For Use By dates, I make sure I eat meat/poultry before the date's up, usually putting it in the freezer if there's any doubt it will be eaten before.

i think these use by/end by dates are quite irrelevant. i have eaten bread that is over the use by date by 3 days and it has been fine. Maybe not as fresh as when 1st bought but still fine to eat x

I tend to use my own instinct, if its "Best Before" i'll test it/smell it before i either consume or give to my son. If it's "Use By" i'm more strict, especially with meat & eggs.

I go by the smell & look of most things rather than the best before date but meat & chicken I won't risk.

Best before is just a guide, it's ok to eat it after but use by should be eaten by that date as far as I'm aware. I've been having problems recently with my Tesco orders. I'm disabled & housebound so do all my shopping online so the problem with that is that I can't go instore to check the best before dates. I never used to have problems with them but the last few months I've been receiving lots of items which have to be used by the next day which is useless when it's fresh fruit & vegetables. I've complained to them as they're supposed to state on the delivery note that it's a short shelf life but they haven't been doing. They're supposed to have been monitoring my orders as I've complained that the pickers are ignoring my requests for substitutions but they still continue to ignore them so I've told them that after shopping with them ever since they opened about 15 years ago I am considering switching supermarkets if it doesn't improve

I make a judgement based on the product - some I go over from but probably won't give to the kids

I generally stick to the dates, but always use my own judgment, because in the past I've had food go off before the best before or use by date and other times I know its fine long after. I tend to give everything a sniff and a good look over! And a tip to avoid having lots of things to use up, is to plan your meals for the week and then buy what you need to cook those meals. On shopping day, we don't tend to have much left in the fridge or cupboards at all. This also helps to keep costs down.

I use them more as a guide, especially the best befores, but I think, even with use by dates, there has to be a little leeway in the date, to account for, say, the hot weather, etc. I check that food is fresh by checking the look and smell. I am more cautious with chicken or fish. I totally ignore dates on bread and eggs, because they seem to last for ages after them.

It's not a 'one size fits all' for me. With fruit and vegetables I try to buy them loose (environmental reasons) so never know the best before dates and go by feel/sight. Beef and cheese get better with age so don't abide by them there. The only things I do tend to stick to is milk/yogurt, chicken and pork

I freeze any foods that are close to use by date, best before I have gone over but always smell first

Best before dates are only guidelines and we have used many items that were out-of-date though the flavours on some items do diminish over time. We tend to stick to 'use by' dates more but depending on the product have still used some items a couple of days past.

I tend to ignore best before dates unless the product clearly seems no good. Use by dates I take a bit more notice of, especially meat, chicken and fish. I will quite happily use milk for example until it has clearly gone off, and bread (for toast at least) until it has gone mouldy. My husband, However, is completely the opposite of me and follows all of them slavishly!

I hardly believe on the use by date for anything. Only when is salad, because I like them fresh and crunchy. I don't drink milk.

Usually we finish the food long before the use by dates. meats frozen and veg we go by eye.

I use these dates as a rough guide, I still check the freshness by sight, smell and feel. I hate any food wastage.

I don't worry about best before / use by dates for my own consumption - I go by look and smell first of course and have no qualms about eating/drinking foods way out of date. I am far more cautious though when it comes to what my dc has, not for best before dates so much but wouldn't give her anything that was past its use by date as her immune system wouldn't be as strong as mine

We eat foods past their Best Before Date all the time and have no problems with it. We often order foods from Approved Foods for this purpose as I want the kids to grow up knowing it is ok. The one thing I may avoid is fizzy drinks as they do loose their fizz and are therefore not a tasty.