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 ignore best before dates and only adhere to use by for meat, eggs, fish and dairy produce, Even then I may ignore it based on a good sniff! I frequently eat bread, potatoes etc well past their use by date.

I only look at the dates (both use by & best before) when buying a ‘big shop’ and will buy things with the longest date.

I may look at them when choosing what to eat first but I use my senses to tell if something is ‘off’ and ignore both types once I’ve opened.

Those saying ‘once opened use by/within’ I completely ignore as often something is still good a long while after the supposed ‘use by/within’ dates.

My DS takes more notice and will often challenge me on using something (or buy more ‘fresh’ whatever for his own meals) but as he cooks more and asks/reads about how to use older foods in different ways/timings of cooking (eg that something near a use by date can be cooked/frozen & then kept longer) I can already see him sniffing & tasting so it’s only a matter of time before he realises he can trust his own judgement and not have to throw out still very edible foods/run to the shop/buy more himself when he doesn’t need to.

I spent a lot of time with my Granny and she has definitely influenced my food decisions re waste. Living on next to nothing is also a hard but excellent way to learn that even something that seems beyond saving still can have a use (eg ‘rubbery’ root veg for soup/stock)

Like beloved old Terry Wogan once said - milk’s ok til it’s yoghurt, yoghurt’s ok til it’s cheese & cheese is ok til it’s furry, & even then it’s still ok if you chop those bits off

Best before; this is the date that it’s best but you can still use after. Use by; this is the date that I normally go by but I tend to use my sense of smell and look rather than being strict. If it looks and smells okay then it gets used, with the exception of fish and raw chicken. I would regrettably bin this.
If I know something is going to go out of date and it’s not going to get eaten I’ll cook it and invite my sister and all her children round! I don’t like wasting food xxx

For meat and fish, I am very cautious about the use by date. For dairy I am more interested in a sniff test, / inspection for mould although, like me others I am always careful to buy the milk with the longest use by date from the centre of the fridge rack. We bake our own bread, which does mould quicker than the mass produced, but doesn't have any date on it, so we just use our common sense.

My children are far more worried about best before and use by dates than me and DH. Although, if DH wants to have something that is far past its date I am a bit

I don't really pay to much attention to use by or best before, I tend to use my nose and the look of the food. I will cut bruises etc out of fruit and veg, stale bread for puddings or bread sauce or breadcrumb coating. Same with fruit or veg on the turn great in pies.

The only things I pay attention to the dates on are fresh fish & chicken. Maybe sausages.

We try and reduce the amount of food waste. So I don't tend to pay much attention to use by or bbe dates.
If something looks okay, I sniff it, if it smells okay I'll have a little taste. If it tastes okay it gets used.
If I know I'm not going to use something close to the use by date I'll freeze it if possible.

The only dates I look at and work to are on meat, milk and refrigerated things with short life like hummus and mozzarella. If things are getting towards the use by date they are usually batch-cooked and frozen.

Best before dates I would never notice, but I just try to buy enough food to last 4-5 days then I know it will be used and will be in good condition with as many nutrients remaining, but I've been known to have apples in the fridge for a couple of months with no ill effects! I couldn't believe it when a colleague told me she chucks potatoes in the bin when they go past their date...potatoes ffs?!

I generally ignore. I'd expect that something with a long past best before date might taste a bit stale but would probably still be fine to use. With use by dates I take them as a guide but that's all. Having lived in a country where you get a 'produced on' date and are then expected to use common sense/sight /smell you get to realise pretty quicily what's ok and what isn't.

I trust my nose more than the stated use by/best before dates. I find that yoghurt lasts ages past its date. Ditto tinned food and root veg, especially if the latter us stored in a cool dark place. Soup and bubble and squeak are excellent for using up veg.

Whilst I know the difference and know rationally that I can ignore best before dates, I just don’t. I can’t r joy food knowing it’s past it’s “best” even though these dates are arbitrary; it’s not like things suddenly go off at midnight! Obviously, use by dates are a different matter.

Use by date are fresh produce. I find that sometimes they're off before the date like milk, fruits, vegs, meat. Bad bacteria spread faster, harmful if consumed. Best before can still be ok to used and eaten past the date. Stale bread for pudding or an unopened tin/can may still be edible. But I always check everything before I use them as a rule.

I know the difference between 'best before' and 'use by' but I still always use my own judgement.
If something is frozen and has a best before date then I'll happily ignore it for a couple of months or so because I don't see how it can really make that much difference. If it's something like a packet of crisps or biscuits then I'll still eat them for a good fortnight or so past the BB date (longer if they are particularly nice ones!).

I am a bit more careful with 'use by' especially if it's meat or dairy products but again will use my own judgement and give it a good sniff.
I freeze what I can if I know I'm not going to use it in time, fresh vegetables and fruits are made into soups, coulis or sauces and then frozen.

We meal plan so there's not often a great deal to throw away, and I'm careful to tailor the plan so that salads are eaten first, things like pasta or frozen dishes eaten on the last day.

I used to work for a supermarket so I always get my fresh produce from the back of the shelf and I will happily lift trays of fruit and veg to get the best dates from underneath. I actually completely stopped shopping at one supermarket because their dates were so poor.
Our food cupboards, fridge and freezer are tidied out frequently and I do my own version of stock rotation.

I do not use anything past its 'use by' date and always check/sniff anything close to the date.

I also, generally, don't use anything beyond a best before date, I just don't like stale food.

Milk or cream I go by the date as I've ruined too many things by using my nose! Things like cheese I'll freeze if there is room. Stuff in cans i ignore totally.

Generally a best before won't be as good after that waste while a use by could be unsafe after. But in most cases I ignore them both and use my judgement.

Should you see in the news that I'm dead after eating out of date food I will revise this system.

I use the dates as a guide and use my eyes/ nose to determine whether I will eat or use the product.

I hardly ever even look at the dates. If something smells and looks off then I won't use it even if the date on it says its fine. By that logic if it looks and smells fine then I will use it. With milk I'm never sure so will have a little sip. We don't eat meat or fish so I feel we are a but safer anyway.

I have been trying to use the freezer a lot more so if I'm using a bit of a vegetable I will chop it all up and freeze the bits I don't need rather than having half going mushy in the fridge.

I also try to do a left-over soup every so often when I stick all the bits of veg in the fridge, add a few in from the freezer if necessary boil up with stock and blitz.

Now DS has started eating solids I do him left over purée. Luckily he has strange tastes and loves beetroot, celeriac, swede and parsnip which always seem to sit in my fridge getting wrinkly.

I just use best before dates as a guide for when items will be at their best and am usually quite happy to use them after that date. For use by dates, with meats I will use or freeze them by then, for other items I will use them within a day or 2 providing they still look and smell OK. For example, I regularly have milk or yohurt the day after its use by date and have never had any problem.s

I know the difference but will often go by smell/sight. I adhere to use by dates on meat but am more likely to use judgement with dairy.

I'm not a fan of best before on fruit and veg as my DH has the tendency to go through fridge and chuck out perfectly good food. I can see the use of them on bakery goods as it helps avoid stale bread!

I use common sense and the nose test - also check texture on some products beyond Best Before. Elderly veg are fine in soup, stirfry and pasta sauce; we don't eat a lot of meat so that is not usually a problem - in any case, if I don't cook it straight away, I trim and freeze it. A bit cautious with dairy food and eggs; don't often go past Use By date.

I know the difference but don't take much notice of either.
The only thing I'm paranoid about is chicken. I don't eat meat if it's more than a day or 2 over or been opened more than 3 days.
Today I have eaten custard that was use by Jan 1st and double cream that was use by Dec 30th. Both were fine.
Skimmed milk has been known to be fine 2 weeks after the date is up and I regularly use semi-skimmed up to a week after.
Eggs are fine unless they float.

I follow use by dates exactly for chicken. I'm more relaxed with red meat...I wouldn't eat days after the use by, but one day out and it looks/smells ok, then I'm fine with it. Generally though if I have meat in the fridge that I'm not going to use in time, I'll bung it in the freezer.

One thing that does annoy me is when it says on packets, once opened, consume within a certain number of days... especially if it's a packet of ham which I know won't all get eaten in three days once it's been opened. I generally try to use my common sense though.

I look for the longest dates when buying food. If I won’t use an item prior to the use by date I freeze it as soon as I realise it won’t be used in time - that may be on the day of purchase or the use by date.

I use my eyes and nose and common sense for most food items except fish and chicken - then I go by the use by date.

I do know the difference between use by and best before. Tinned and dried products are used long past the best before date.

I’m surprised so many people apparently throw away perfectly good food.

If its meat or fish i will throw it away but with anything else such as tin foods and yogurts,bread and milk unless they show or smell funny then I will still eat them.

I ignore best before - to an extent. I did find some biscuits which had a beat before of two years ago. They weren’t appetising.

For use by, I’ll follow it for meat, but milk for example, I’ll use my nose to judge how it is. It’s usually fine.