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Use By Dates

Use by Dates

  • Past use by date - in the bin it goes

    Votes: 14 8.2%
  • Couple of days is ok

    Votes: 38 22.4%
  • Smell's OK - just eat it

    Votes: 95 55.9%
  • Few days is OK for everything

    Votes: 23 13.5%

  • Total voters
    170


Alba Badger

Well-known member
Mar 14, 2016
1,620
Straight outta Felpham
Expensive higgidy steak sussex ale and stilton pie was in the fridge, use by date was two days ago and I have cooked it and eaten it, waste not etc Pretty sure I'll be OK. Got me to thinking what's your hard and fast rules on use by dates? What are your rules? Smells OK, get it down ya?
 






peterward

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 11, 2009
12,257
Smell always, had a prawn cocktail yesterday, best before yesterday, opened it and it stunk, straight in bin...... plenty of stuff is just fine like breads, sauces etc, meat/fish always a good sniff first.
 


Birdie Boy

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2011
4,379
If it looks good and smells good, no problem for me. I'm sure it is just a finger in the air type date as they have to put one on it.

Sent from my XT1072 using Tapatalk
 


nicko31

Well-known member
Jan 7, 2010
18,545
Gods country fortnightly
Expensive higgidy steak sussex ale and stilton pie was in the fridge, use by date was two days ago and I have cooked it and eaten it, waste not etc Pretty sure I'll be OK. Got me to thinking what's your hard and fast rules on use by dates? What are your rules? Smells OK, get it down ya?

Beer would be best before, would it not? The cheese would have a use by..

Old beer is safe but dont taste great
 
















GT49er

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 1, 2009
49,141
Gloucester
No 'one-size-fits-all' answer to this - some foods I will disregard the 'use by' date for longer than others. Smell - and appearance of mould - are generally good pointers though.
 




brakespear

Doctor Worm
Feb 24, 2009
12,326
Sleeping on the roof
will use veg, fruit, cheese, milk and others past use by dates. Not meat though.
 


clippedgull

Hotdogs, extra onions
Aug 11, 2003
20,789
Near Ducks, Geese, and Seagulls
Use by dates are a modern day guide only, introduced so that the more gullible throw perfectly edible food away and further line the pockets of the rip off supermarkets.

As a consumer, common sense should prevail, if you're rich throw it, if you're poor eat it!! :D
 


Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
53,058
Goldstone
I'm never sure with this. For uncooked food, if you've got a decent sense of smell, you should be ok with the smelling method. For cooked food though, things smell ok well after they're first cooked, but all the recommendations are to use within 3-4 days. Which is annoying.
 




BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
Pre packed items like tinned stuff etc I think is ok after best before date. Depends on the actual food. I am reluctant to use Morrisons fresh meat or fish even on the last day of the use before date as I have had some unpleasant experiences with their fresh meat.and fish. Wife was clearing the cupboards and found a Fray Bentos tinned pie, bought cheap I presume, with a best before date in April 2016. That was ok when cooked up. Many times I have had tonic water with my gin that was past its sell by and best before date and they have all been ok.
 






Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
30,452
Hove
Smell, look: personal judgement call. 'Use by' – covering their arses so always going to be ultra cautious.

Reckon there will be at least a 30% margin of error, so a 4 day use by, is in reality going to be 5 days, maybe a bit more if you're lucky.
 






BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
Some years ago I worked as a stocktaker for Maynards Social Club and the quality control manager told me that they withdrew the wine gums from supermarkets at the start of the month of their sell by date. They took them back and repackaged them with a code denoting how many times it had been done and they could do that 3 times. Therefore theoretically some wine gums could be nearly 4 years old when sold and it was perfectly legal and the quality not impaired but legislation said that a sell by date could not be more than 12 months away.
 


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