Are the 'use by / sell by' dates on food a load of rubbish?

[seagullsovergrimsby]

the whole thing is a mess. doesnt help with the different "use by", "sell by" and the very subjective "best before" dates. the former is simple enough and usually on meat and perishables. Sell by is there for stock control. best before is there for quality control. best thing is to judge for yourself. if a delivery of milk, bread or meat has been left outside for 6 hours of summer sun waiting to go into store, then the date becomes pretty meaningless.

my dad has a stock of old beer, 2006 is the date on them and when opened they have a tendancy to foam up straight away or else they taste very over-malty (some might like this and says its well conditioned). i've stopped drinking them now as i think its a tad OTT.

the one that makes me laugh most is water. it has nothing in it to go bad or even deterioate in quality, unless you leave the bottles outside in midday sun.

The reason there is a use by date on plastic bottled water is to cover the manufacturer's arse if any chemicals in the plastic leach into the water and contaminate it over a very long period of time.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I've been hearing that as a nation we waste tons of food and that it all goes to landfill. People have been wringing their hands and wondering how we can stop this. Well I've got an idea - take all the 'Sell By and Use By' dates off food and let people use their common sense as to whether something is edible or not.

Three examples over Christmas, two one-offs, one systematic:

1 - We'd just eaten the last of the home-made Christmas cake when my wife proudly announced that the icing had been made with something called Sainsbury's 'EasyIce' - and the packet had gone out of date in April 1996! It had been stuck at the back of the cupboard, but she opened it, it looked ok, tasted fine and we're all still here.

2 - I was trying to buy a packet of ham in the Fiveways Co-op. It had been reduced but the checkout girl said she couldn't sell it to me as it was now out of date (it wouldn't scan). I asked what was going to happen to it and she said it would be thrown away! I could see through the packaging that it was fine, it wasn't green or slimey or anything, and I was prepared to take the chance but she wouldn't be swayed.

3 - Mentioned both these examples to my son's girlfriend and she says her mum often throws food out when it gets to the day before the expiry date 'to be on the safe side'!

Anybody else think we need to re-think this?

Cooked meat can be very dodgy , I wouldn't take the risk once it has gone past the sell by date and the shop hasn't binned it but is still prepared to flog it. On the other hand if its already in my fridge unopened I would still eat it 3 or 4 days after the sell by date with the knowledge it has been stored at the proper temperature whereas in a shop it might not have been in the chiller all the time.

 

[Notters]

the one that makes me laugh most is water. it has nothing in it to go bad or even deterioate in quality, unless you leave the bottles outside in midday sun.

Not true at all on both counts. Having studied this for my masters, there are thousands of times more bacteria in bottled water than in tap water and there is very little regulation covering them. Something like one in every thousand bottles of mineral water has enough bacteria in it to make someone with a weakened immune system ill. On the other hand, if you were to leave it out in the midday sun, as you say, the ultra violet light would kill the bacteria; this is why swimming in the sea is considerably safer in the summer and generally safer than in a swimming pool.

 

[KZNSeagull]

On a related note, does anyone know how dangerous it is to defrost freezers with products still in them? At a lot of supermarkets here, there are often items in there with multiple layers of ice on, including Ice Cream, which I believe is a sign that they may have been partially defrosted and then re-frozen.

 

[beorhthelm]

The reason there is a use by date on plastic bottled water is to cover the manufacturer's arse if any chemicals in the plastic leach into the water and contaminate it over a very long period of time.

and the glass bottles?

Not true at all on both counts. Having studied this for my masters, there are thousands of times more bacteria in bottled water than in tap water and there is very little regulation covering them. Something like one in every thousand bottles of mineral water has enough bacteria in it to make someone with a weakened immune system ill.

interesting, never knew that. i thought it was bad for PET bottles to be left out as the UV facilitates the breakdown of the plastic and therefore leeching, but was safe for years if kept dark and cool.

 

[BensGrandad]

When I had my stocktaking company we did the stock at the social club of a very well known Wine Gum company and the quality control manager told me that they often withdrew wine gums they had made for a supermarket group that had run out of date. They then repacked them and redated them and apprently they did this up tpo 3 times so it is possib;le that the sweets could be 4 years old when you buy them. He said they were perfectly ok but legislation does not allow hem to date goods for over 12 months.

 

[northernblue]

I regularly eat food past its sell-by date and it hasn't killed me yet. I often shop just before stores are closing to take advantage of the discouted goods on offer which are on date. You can save a lot of money this way. I used to work in catering and we weren't allowed to take food off the premises in case of a lawsuit as a result of food poisoning. I think it's the same thing regarding sell-by dates - it's a means to stop a shop from being sued.

 

[Danny-Boy]

Just as an aside, we went to my father's house for lunch once and he served up small Yorkshire puddings. When I asked if he had found my mothers recipe, he replied that actually they were made by my mother and frozen. She had been dead for 5 years! They were still excellent though.

There must be a play, or at least a comedy sketch, around this story. Dead men can't tell tales, but they can cook food, or maybe even kill you with poisoned food..not in this case obviously though.

 

[Danny-Boy]

When I had my stocktaking company we did the stock at the social club of a very well known Wine Gum company and the quality control manager told me that they often withdrew wine gums they had made for a supermarket group that had run out of date. They then repacked them and redated them and apprently they did this up tpo 3 times so it is possib;le that the sweets could be 4 years old when you buy them. He said they were perfectly ok but legislation does not allow hem to date goods for over 12 months.

Food is regularly dated for over 12 months. Why should wine gums be different?

 

[Danny-Boy]

Considering penicillin, which saves people's lives routinely, grows as mould on food maybe we should eat more mouldy items.

Except egg-based products that is. I oncecaught salmonella over Xmas after going to a buffet in an Eastbourne pub, my temperature went to 103 and I was off solids for a week. Never again.

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

I bought a packet of Trex once and it said, 'Use by BC 2,500,000'. Was alright though.

TNBA

TTF

 

[Dalef65]

Depends on the food really. Our local Spar here is notorious for changing dates on food. In order to be safe, we always make a hole in the packaging and smell it. We have in the past got home with meat and vegetables that were off from there.

I think you are right about certain products, but with fresh food sell by dates should definately stay.

Just as an aside, we went to my father's house for lunch once and he served up small Yorkshire puddings. When I asked if he had found my mothers recipe, he replied that actually they were made by my mother and frozen. She had been dead for 5 years! They were still excellent though.

If you get caught making holes in the packaging of supermarket food,you could get into a situation where a world of grief comes down on your head......
And dont expect any sympathy from anybody either...........

If you dont want it,just dont buy it....
Dont go tampering with food that other people are going to eat
Jesus Christ.....!!!!