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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Best before dates I will happily stretch and use by dates I won't. But then I never have the problem anyway because we plan our meals and everything is used when it should be and nothing wasted.

Best before? meaningless - use my own judgement!

Use Before - take notice (esp if fish !) but generally use my own judgement again - within reason. Things do not become inedible a minute after midnight on the date the pack states!

Stick to use by dates religiously t- they are there for a reason and you can get extremely ill if you ignore them.

Best before dates are just advisory dates that a food may not be quite as tip top condition if you store it and use it after this date.

To get round some use by dates you can freeze items on or before their use by date to extend their life, such as milk and bread, meat etc

I admit I'm fussy with use by dates and stick to them all the time, but I guess this is also what helps me make it work without causing excess waste. I always make sure I buy all products with the longest date available and freeze things in time. Unless it's certain fruit and veg, then the dates are completely silly, never seen a potato that was only good for one more day :D

I usually use my instincts rather than dates when I'm using food but buy food with a long sell-by date when shopping.

I totally agree, I only use eat by dates for guidance. I use nose & eyes as a guide & taste as a last check. I tell my kids to ask me if they're not sure.

There is very little wasted in our house. 'Best Before' is taken as a guide only and if the food looks and smells OK its used. We make use of the freezer extensively and buy larger packs of items and freeze in one meal (for 2 people) portions. With Chickens etc. we get a couple of good meals and the rest if sufficient will be used with lots of Veg. to make a Pasta or Curry meal. Small leftover bits will be a treat for the cat.

I think if it smells ok then its fine,apart from fish I wouldn't like to take a chance.

For me it’s a balance between food safety and my families health vurses contributing unnecessarily to land fill. I just go with my instinct and the type of food it is. With meat and fish products i’m cautious and do not use them after the use by date. With tinned and packet food I don’t automatically throw them away after the best before date, iinstead I open them and if they seem fine i’ll use them.

I freeze everything possible. Break up packets of sausages etc into portions for faster defrosting, keep in plastic tubs, not cling wrap or bags. Grate blocks of cheese and freeze in tubs for cooking. I also freeze onion/carrot/garlic trimmings, for adding to chicken carcass when making stock, which I reduce down and freeze in little tubs, the ones you get dips in from takeaway Indian.

You have to be careful with certain things, such as eggs, but, in the main, it's a way to keep your weekly shopping costs low by buying items that expire soon! Just be sensible, and use the freezer when necessary!

If the meat,fish or poultry has come to just before the ‘use before date’we always freeze it. ‘Best before dates’ I take less notice of and I am happy to buy and eat if it has gone past.
If I am unsure about ‘best before’ I will make a judgement by the look and smell.....my husband always plays a part in this as he has a better ‘nose’. However if we are unsure we err on the side of safety and it goes in the food waste bin.

I know what they mean ‘use by’ food to be used by this date ... ‘best before’ food is best consumed before this date

However if it’s been stored appropriately, smells and looks ok I will still use it

I don't stick to best before dates I use my own judgment but more Fen than not I don't waste food I stick to a family meal planner and freeze leftovers to use for lunches to take to work

Fish , chicken oh and seafood I’d always eat before use by date
Best before means eat it unless it looks mouldy lol

I tend to ignore best before but I pay more attention to use by.
If it looks/smells okay I'll still use it :)

It depend s on the item. I would happily eat tomatoes that were a week out of date, so long as they looked ok, but I wouldn't eat fish that was. I am old enough to remember when things didn't have dates.

I often pick up short dated items that are reduced in Asda.

I stick to USE BY dates unless it's a microewave ready meal, I find they're so full of preservatives anyway that I'll eat them up to two days out of date but BEST BEFORE I'll absolutely eat well after the date.

I don't tend to take notice of these. I use my common sense instead - if something is off, it tends to be obvious. Way too much food gets wasted when there are literally billions of malnourished people, needlessly dying in the world. Food waste is something I truly despise and the people around me are aware of this.

I kind of ignore best before dates, use by is more important in my opinion however, also using common sense is just as important! The look and smell of a food usually tells you a lot of what you need to know. I often eat things past their use by if they seem okay although I would be more wary of giving them to other people.

I am very particular with BB dates. I always try and use the food beforehand but if it looks/smells ok then i will use a day past it. Some foods however i wont, Yoghurts, milk and eggs are a few.

I wouldn't eat meat or yoghurt after the use by date, everything else I pretty much ignore the dates and use my eyes/nose to see if it is still edible. Fruit and veg lasts way longer than the dates on the packets if it is stored properly, and with having 3 boys and a hungry husband in the house there isn't often food around long enough to go out of date!

I understand the difference between best & use by. Common sense has to prevail & the use of eyes & smell confirm if food is edible or not. It is always better to be safe than sorry if there is any doubt at all. Meal planning according to dates removes the use by dilemma anyway & prevents food waste.

Best before just means that the food is at it's best before that date, I don't take much notice to it. A lot of food is wasted because people think you have to eat it before that date. Use by date is another story, you do need to eat them before that date unless you freeze it of course!

Ignore them. If it looks and smells ok then it is fine to use.