A lot of people I know chuck out food once it's gone past it's sell by date without even looking at it.
I remember, years ago, travelling across American by Grey Hound bus with a friend who made me chuck away cheese between hostels as it had been out of the fridge for too many hours!
I'm not at all like that and refuse to chuck anything away until it's been smelt and tasted.
I ate this yogurt last night and it tasted perfectly normal. But being two and a half weeks "off" I wonder how many people would have just chucked it away without even opening it? I think a lot of it comes with this live style we have chosen, when your preserving and storing a lot of your own food you have to start using your own judgement again rather than just trusting what's written on a packet.
What's the longest time past a sell-by-date that anyone has eaten something and which foods do you avoid risking it with?
By law I am not allowed to sell anything past its sell by date (and the Economic Police do come and check the shelves every now and again) so it all comes into the house.
ReplyDeleteI rely on my senses to judge if anything is no longer fit for consumption.
I remember when we worked on a barn conversion years ago the mobile shop used to come once a week and we'd all buy snacks and stuff from it. It was pot luck as to whether what you brought had the right years sell by date on it or not! Soft crisps are never nice!
DeleteI do that all the time. Besides, the "sell by date" is an indicative date, set according to a precautionary principle, so it is normal that food items can last and be consumed a lot longer. I too, rely on my senses before deciding to chuck it away. The longest period? Maybe half a year, for some packaged dried beans.
ReplyDeleteIt is a indicative date but I still know a lot of people who see it's gone and chuck the food away! My longest is years on some tinned goods!
DeleteDon't know the longest, but we routinely eat lots of stuff past sell-by.
ReplyDeleteSome stuff lasts for years, dried in sealed packets and tinned for example.
And as you've noticed, sealed yogurt is perfectly edible sometimes weeks beyond the date on the carton.
Just noticed the packet of digestives I'm dipping in my coffee is dated Feb 2013, nothing wrong with them, still perfectly crunchy and taste fine.
Even some fruit and vegetables will keep a lot longer than they think.
Exception is meat and fish if not in the freezer, but your nose will tell you.
Like you said your nose will tell you. As for fruit and veg it all keeps much longer if it's kept right. We're still eating the squash I grew last year and they've just been kept in a box in the dinning room!
DeleteIt would make me cry, if I saw the waste when the supermarkets fling out their out of date food....
ReplyDeleteWhat are we doing?.!
What are we doing?
DeletePacifying the politically correct brigade and the do-gooders.
Protecting people from their own idiocy and stores from legislation.
Wasting several thousand tons of perfectly good food.
It does make you wonder! Thats why I like doing my shopping late at night and pick up the 9p and 19p deals on food thats nearly gone past it's date!
DeleteMade rice pudding last month, rice was use by 2007. Still alive and kicking lol
ReplyDeleteThats a good effort! Gald it didn't kill you! So long as it's stored right tinned goods can be eaten decades after its date (I think - not sure I'd try tuna stored this long though!)
DeleteI go by look and smell. No probs so far. And I echo John Gray's comment above, that the waste from the supermarkets would make me flinch. No waste here, everything is used one way or another, our best recyclers being the dogs, chickens, and pigs.
ReplyDeleteNot much waste here either - I eat it! It's been my job role since I was small!
DeleteIt really depends on the food, some things just don't last and others seem to last for years even though out of date. Also there are two dates, the first is a "Use By" and the other is "Best if used by". The second seems to be a slick way to increase sales when people throw out something that is "best" by some made up date. They should just put the date that an item was made on the package when it is some thing that lasts a long time and a use by date on stuff like milk. Our home canned vegetables just have the date written on them and are in glass so you can see them.
ReplyDeleteI agree. that way if we could make our own judgements about how long to keep things. But if the other way increases sales then thats what they'll keep doing!
DeleteIf it looks OK...and smells OK...then it probably is OK.
ReplyDeleteJane x
I think thtd about right!
DeleteBest before is a description of quality not of safety, so it's saying that this item will taste best up to this date, but afterwards, it MAY start to deteriorate in flavour, colour or texture. We had 70 packets of wild mushroom polenta that was a short while past their BB date. A year after they went past that date, they tasted the same, and were the same colour and texture Use by is a description of safety. I use dairy products after that if it smells and tastes fine. I also cut mould off bread and cheese. I cook and eat meat the next day after the use by date, but make sure it is thoroughly cooked.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all that you've said but I won't eat bread with mould on it after a bad experience! It's the smell of mouldy bread that just turns my stomach!
DeleteYou must be getting sick of polenta now. Thats a lot of packets to get through! Glad you can keep it a bit longer yet!
Don't think beer ever goes out of date......
ReplyDeleteI hope not as thats something else I've dunk a few years past it's date!
DeleteTwinkies never go bad
ReplyDeleteThey're never good either!
DeleteI've used heaps of things past the sell by date (yogurt, sour cream, etc) and I also use my senses to judge but if anything seems off (appearance, smell, etc) I don't use it. Would rather not take a chance on getting ill and being down for days.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking, most foods are perfectly good to eat for quite some time after the sell by date.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteslightly late to the party lol the only thing I won't touch way way past it's use by date is tomatoes and oranges, just remember you can't see taste or smell botulism: )
ReplyDeleteother than that I agree with all of the above: )
I thought that was only in canned or bottled products? Tomatoes go bad pretty quick if brought from thwe shops anyway I always find.
Deletesorry that's what i meant as i can my own sauces and jams lol, but saying that as long as you cook it on a high heat for 20mins it kills the the bacteria that causes botulism, so its a catch 22 situation lol :)
ReplyDeleteAh! that makes more sense now! I need to get into canning but it's just not very common over here in the UK.
Deletei know, its a bugger to find cheap jars, and the lids! i want to try pressure caning when i have the money spare but i'm terrified! knowing my luck i'll blow something up ;)
Delete