[Food] Sell By Dates

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Cooked some part baked rolls earlier, 2 months out of date. They had shrunk a bit but still nice.

 

[newhaven seagull 85]

sell by date is on dairy, meat, fish, also ready meals. you dont want to be eating the thing after the date (give or take, depending how its kept).
use by date is on about everything else. indicates possible quality deterioration or used for stock control.

i recall some a directive on the appliction of sell by dates and due to fines if you didnt label correctly, company's interpretation was to put a sell by date where not necessary.

No, there are use by dates, these are products that if consumed after the date have the potential to give you food poisoning, this would be meat fish etc, and then best before dates which indicate that the product is at its best before this date.
Some products like eggs have a display until date as you should not sell eggs with less than 7 days use by date on them.

 

[Springal]

There was a blog about someone that just ate supermarket out of date / yellow sticker food and actually had some gut problems mainly from fruit / veg / bread and the affect of going off slightly bad with bacteria etc - it wasn’t that good for him.

Personally I avoid dates and just use look / smell. I’ve had meat in date that stinks , and milk go past that is still ok

 

[dazzer6666]

Having done many food hygiene courses at work you can get over paranoid (as I think they are) beacuse it is drummed into you. One instructor said they would never ever eat food at a wedding (or funeral re the OP) buffet under any circumstances. Seemed a bit extreme. The work fridge was never at the right temperature for them (as it was being opened all the time by clients)and having to record the "correct" fridge temperatures was a nightmare.

I've never had food poisoning - with the exception of the one time I let my guard down at the night market in Marrakesh and accepted and ate a snail offered (just being British and polite without thinking I did though refuse a later offer on my travels of water from a ladel.... straight out of the Ganges).

Milk and bread is easy. Salad can be quite dangerous in those pre packed bags when left to go a bit slimey inside...

I do have a couple of friends who leave a take-out curry overnight on the side and eat it in the morning, is that common place on NSC? Personally, I wouldn't do that because of all the yeast growth on it in that time.. but they say they never have any bad effects.

Not sure old slimy salad is that dangerous, and if it’s that obvious you wouldn’t eat it anyway……..the only illness I’ve ever got from salad is a dose of cyclosporiasis in Mexico. Lost 6kg in a week when I got home (luckily only started towards the end of the holiday). Don’t look up how it’s caused

 

[McTavish]

Most things you can see/smell whether they are ok. I would be a little wary of chicken/eggs/seafood (although you should still be able to smell it), particularly if not cooking thoroughly. Apart from a couple of dodgy fish episodes, normally in countries warmer than ours, I've survived thus far

Eggs are usually fine.

They do go off eventually but going off is just a bad taste rather than anything dangerous unless they are cracked or mouldy. Salmonella is nothing to do with age and it has virtually been eradicated from British eggs.

 

[The Clamp]

It only takes one bout of serious food poisoning to make one pay a bit more attention to use by dates.

I had eight particularly psychedelic days on morphine after eating a dodgy paella at a restaurant in Brighton. I have never felt so ill in all my life. Almost instant vomiting as soon as I put my knife and fork down.

The restaurant is no longer there. That was almost 20 years ago now.

These days I buy fresh produce almost daily. I have to lower my cholesterol, so I am only eating one egg a week (gutted) so I buy a couple at at time from a local cafe that sells them.
I only buy small fresh loaves form the bakery and only every now and again, again I don't eat bread now except with a nice soup every now and again.

My Stepdad prided himself on being able to eat stuff that would make a Billy goat puke, he got bowel cancer and the doctor said his diet of out of date meats, eating frozen foods that have been in there longer than a wooly mammoth, and out of date produce contributed to his demise.

So I guess the key is it's okay once in a while but don't make a habit of it.

It's all about common sense but for me, the fresher the better.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Not sure old slimy salad is that dangerous, and if it’s that obvious you wouldn’t eat it anyway……..the only illness I’ve ever got from salad is a dose of cyclosporiasis in Mexico. Lost 6kg in a week when I got home (luckily only started towards the end of the holiday). Don’t look up how it’s caused

Slimy old salad can cause listeria which is especially bad for pregnant women

 

[Questions]

I bloody love eggs. Saying that a freshie is the best

 

[dazzer6666]

Slimy old salad can cause listeria which is especially bad for pregnant women

Like I said, who would eat obviously slimy salad anyway ?

 

[rigton70]

These.

I've consumed many an item that has supposedly been past it's best weeks before – grapes are a classic example – and they are absolutely fine. If it passed the smell test, then taste it. If it passes the taste test, knock yourself out.

I'm baffled by people who think that things are no good anymore the minute the clock strikes midnight on the day after the 'use by' date. Nutters.

This. In our house we have eaten cheese,all veg,all fruit,eggs,all tinned,dried pasta etc etc etc. If it does not look right or smells shit chuck it.

 

[Reagulls]

Slimy old salad can cause listeria which is especially bad for pregnant women

Mrs Reagulls went into labour with our son, 8 weeks early, had to have an emergency C section, our son born not breathing, resuscitated twice.
spent the first week with wires and tubes coming out of him, then another 3 weeks at the Trevor man unit (they were brilliant)
the Mrs was also very unwell and after about 4 days and many tests they said it was listeria that has caused the premature birth
she spent 11 days in hospital.....

son is nearly 4 now, big energetic beautiful boy with Cucurella hair!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Mrs Reagulls went into labour with our son, 8 weeks early, had to have an emergency C section, our son born not breathing, resuscitated twice.
spent the first week with wires and tubes coming out of him, then another 3 weeks at the Trevor man unit (they were brilliant)
the Mrs was also very unwell and after about 4 days and many tests they said it was listeria that has caused the premature birth
she spent 11 days in hospital.....

son is nearly 4 now, big energetic beautiful boy with Cucurella hair!

What a horrible ordeal but so thankful your wife and little boy are both well now. Yes, listeria is a nasty little beggar and not always obvious on salads.