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

Like Butteredparsn1ps i use my judgement.

It's easy to tell if somethings off or not. Just use your senses. Does it look smell and feel ok? Then it's safe to eat.
Is it mouldy or green, smell funky or feel wrong? Then bin it.

I generally freeze meats before their date, unless I'm using immediately, dairy products disappear really quickly in this house so dates aren't really an issue , vegetables and fruits I go by texture and appearance.

I find the difference a bit confusing. I do find a lot of people think they mean the same thing.
Anything like meat /milk etc I tend to not use if gone past the use by.
I am more relaxed about things in jars/ packets etc.

Im currently half way through a Whittards chilli hot chocolate best before March 2016. Fingers crossed it will be ok. Tastes fine.

I've a reasonably relaxed approach to both best before and use by dates. If food looks and smells alright then I'll generally use it. I'm one of 2 vegetarians in our household of 5 though, so we don't tend to have much meat and fish.

If food is in danger of going off I'll try and use it or freeze it. We had very little waste over Christmas, despite catering for 20 odd on Christmas Eve. What was left over was used later, frozen or thrown out to the birds.

Use by

This mostly describes the particular product is recommended to be used by the specified date to avoid mould, stinky smell, sour etc .
eg : Milk, yogurt and fresh fruits and eggs

best before
This is generally used for products that contain a much more shelf life compared to the above mentioned products. Eg : potatoes, tinned veggies like peas/corn, chochlates, dried pastas , nuts , rice and long life milk.

I and my family being vegetarians, not sure about meat related products personally. But before throwing anything out, I double check its colour, smell and apperance

My everyday tips :
I also make sure I keep the milk upright to retain its freshness and opened biscuits, crisps , nuts in closed containers to maintain its crispness . I make sure pototates are kept wide spread on a paper which might absorb the moisture and prevent (to some extent)in sprouting .

Tend to buy only what we need. Meat/fish is either used immediately or more than likely yellow sticker stuff goes straight in the freezer.

Yes, I do know the difference between BB and UB but I was taught to use my senses and am more than capable of deciding for ourselves.

Veg/fruit is bought loose so buy the amount we need - either that or it's from my garden. Who dates that?

We just don't have any food waste. Even this Christmas the only thing chucked was the bones and giblets but only after I strained them from the stock I'd made.

I tend to ignore best before dates and just look/ smell before eating. As for use by am only really cautious with chicken and fish but have been know to eat that past it's use by date (again) if it smells and looks ok.
I think these should say recommended use by / best before date. Although not sure what the point of best before is really who pays any attention to that!?

I see them as a guideline, beyond that date they might not taste as great but won’t kill you! I’m more careful with meat products and tend to freeze them if know I’m not going to use it by the date stated. Fruit always get mixed into cakes or cookies, my banana cookies are a favourite. I know some people ( my younger sister) who won’t even eat things such as biscuits if she knows the packet has been opened a couple of days even if the date is well in the future, I find this a terrible waste. I hate things going to waste so try to buy the right amounts and freeze where possible.

Im good for eating food past its use by or BBE, with some provisos - it doesnt smell "wrong", it hasnt changed colour or the packet hasnt swollen up.

I do draw the line at fish and seafood, which is why this item, purchased on the 4th Jan 2018 was taken straight back to your shop

Unless its dairy or meat i ignore them - am more cautious when little people are eating them x x

Best before - You can still eat it after this date n it won't kill you but it's not at its best/optimum some flavour may be lost. This is the one I'm more likely to ignore.

Use by - used in perishables like meat fish n dairy, chances are will make you I'll after this date if you eat it.

I very very rarely bin foods. Occasionally the end of a big pot of yoghurt cos it's gone sour but that's it cos I hate food waste. If I buy meat I tend to freeze it and deforest the day I need to avoid it going off. But the main thing I do is I menu plan before I go shopping and only buy what I need so everything gets used up.

W.E do meal planning to avoid waste. I usually smell food to see if it seems fresh and don’t take much notice of best before dates. I pay more attention to meat and fish dates than other food items.

I know the difference betwn Use By and Best Before and tend to ignore the Best Before date. Foods I'm most likely to bin if the Best Before date has passed is fruit - if it's obviously gone off. I try to freeze anything I've bought if the best before date has passed. Food storage rules include keeping salad & eggs in the fridge, veg in cool dark place in paper bags, meat that's going to be used soon and anything to defrost at the bottom of our fridge. I try not to throw away food by avoiding buying too much in the first place.

I think we need to use our senses more. The way good is stored has an impact on its useability. I think any use by or best before date is a guideline only &_should be treated as such. For example I have bought mangos from supermarkets at
Which were not file at their use by date & didn't become so for several days.

I pay no attention to best before dates. Use by dates I take into consideration (except with fruit and veg) but I still go with smell and by looking to determine is something can be eaten. Dairy I am most cautious with but you can tell if it's off by smelling it. I buy my meat from a butcher and fish from a fishmonger. I am not given a use by date. It all goes in the freezer and defrosted on the day of use or the day before. I hate food waste and don't really pay much attention to the dates.

I ignore sell by and use by dates (within reason).

Best before is a guide, use by is when the good should be eaten by.
I tend to be more careful about eating meat by use by but pretty much everything else I judge on how it looks / smells.
I try to buy fresh food around certain meals and will freeze whatever I can to prolong foods.

I generally go by look and smell. For example, if I happen to find raw, uncooked chicken breasts in the reduced section, that’s stating today is the “use by” date, I will normally still purchase it and freeze it to use in the future. If it is something that is pre-cooked (think chicken tikka Marsala) I am more likely to still purchase it, but use it within a day or two. The reason for this is mainly because there is a complexity to the ingredients and it’s a little more difficult to decipher whether or not it is still fresh or safe enough to consume. I would not serve this is anyone else without letting them know it’s beyond the use by date. Eggs, red meat, and fruit, I am a little more lenient on. Fish, milk and bread I tend to want to use by the date recommended or at most, two days after. Although bread can still be used for a plethora of things as long as it hasn’t gone mouldy, which can be slowed down by storing it in the fridge for a couple of extra days.

Best before I treat as a vague guideline but it doesn't worry me beyond.

Use by for precooked stuff I tend to stick too, except for salami and aircured meats. i can't get my head around something with a date of months and then at 1 second past midnight its suddenly not fit for consumption.

For uncooked meat/ fish I sniff and if it seams okay and is very close to date cook and eat.

The one I find most confusing is the consume within 2 /3 /7 days of opening. Many sauces, ketchups and chutneys have this sort of statement on and I don't stick to it accept with oil based jars like pesto where I think theres a higher risk. I'd love to know how much of this is to get us to chuck and buy fresh and which things actually have more risk.

"Use by" sounds like more of a command, so I assume it's the more important of the two. But in practice I don't really distinguish between them. Chicken, pork and fish go in the freezer before their BBE/use by date comes up. Everything else is based on look, smell and taste.
In my experience most things far outlast their recommended dates (except for corn on the cob which only seems to last 1 day regardless of what the BBE date is )

I don't pay any attention to use by or best before dates once I've bought something. Provided it hasn't changed colour, gone mouldy or switched from a solid to a liquid or vice versa I'm happy to eat it and I never have any problems with food poisoning.

I buy a fair amount from a company called approved foods which sells food much cheaper as it's past it's sell by date. A lot of items you can't even tell the difference.

If I'm in store I'll often look at dates to pick the one with the latest date but only because I assume it's fresher.

Best Before - recommended eaten by this date but unlikely to kill you if eaten after this date.

Use By - as it says on the tin... Best used by this date. Not recommended to eat after this date.

I generally follow use by dates quite closely especially with meat. I use my nose as well with anything that isn't dry goods.

As for best before, well, I keep it until I use it! I have custard powder that is 4 years out of date, stock cubes that are at least 2 years out of date (I bought catering size boxes and have managed to use 2/3 of the pack so far).

Milk I check to see if it's swirly. Eggs I'll keep till 3-4 weeks after the date on them.

Meat is really the main thing I'm cautious with after nearly poisoning myself with beef mince when I was a naive teenager!

I would rather buy to sell by date, I somethimes use a few things after this date if I am sure it's safe. If not dis[pose of it. I hate wasting food so regularly use my food by the use by date as I feel it is in my best interest

I listen to use by dates but I always wonder if I cook say mince on its use by date can I safely eat the leftovers the next day. So not a tip but a question.

Best before dates I’m not too worried about.

My brother listens to neither best before or use by dates and is still standing.