Do you throw food out after Best Before date?

Corsendonk

I thought I would start this thread to get peoples opinions. A poster in the farm thread was enquiring about the amount of food waste in farms in Ireland after watching the Great British Food Waste TV show on the BBC.

Now farms are businesses at the end of the day so waste is kept to a min as much as possible but the thread moved on to the amount of food wasted by retailers and consumers. So do you find you throw food out when it reaches its best before date?

Dinkie

Depends on what it is.

Eggs and milk get thrown out. Eggs are just in case, and I don't really like milk, so rather then check it, I just chuck it.

Everything else, I don't worry too much about. I check it before eating however.

boodlesdoodles

If it's 'use by' I throw it out if it's past the date. If it's 'best before' I'll hold onto it for another while, all it means is that it's at its best before that date but you can still eat it.

Krusty_Clown

I usually just feed it to the children. If they're ok after a few hours, I'll eat it.
















<joke>

ki

I smell it first, if I think its dodge I throw it else I eat it

giantturkeyleg

I cannot stand a best-before or use-by date on fresh fruit and vegetables. I find it ridiculous to put BBEs on packs of potatoes, after which a potato is to be thrown out. I always decide by looking at it/smelling it/squeezing it. It is more common sense than anything else (and I wouldn't be one to eat dodgy food).

Meat, eggs and milk is a different story, and I would pay more heed to the use-by dates on these...although I might still use it a day after (the BBEs, and use-bys probably have a safety margin built in).

When it comes to dried goods, they could be months past their BBE and I'll still chance them. If there's enough sugar in them it'll probably keep well enough for me!

In relation to what the OP said about farms being businesses with minimal waste, I really don't think this is the case. We have heard about tonnes of vegetables being dumped or ploughed back into the ground because they don't conform to the strict physical measurements laid down by supermarkets (that are ultimately down to the demands of the consumer).

Corsendonk

giantturkeyleg wrote: »

I cannot stand a best-before or use-by date on fresh fruit and vegetables. I find it ridiculous to put BBEs on packs of potatoes, after which a potato is to be thrown out. I always decide by looking at it/smelling it/squeezing it. It is more common sense than anything else (and I wouldn't be one to eat dodgy food).

Supermarkets found that putting BB dates on Fruit and Veg increased there sales as some consumers just threw the produce out rather than risk eating it even do there isn't a risk.

I wouldn't use a product by its Use by date but your nose is always a good guide.

Deal Buster

Best beat is to smell especially meat and diary products. Other stuff will depend on it's appearance.

mike65

Never! Suck it and see. Had an egg that was a week past its date yesterday.

rubadub

Corsendonk wrote: »

Supermarkets found that putting BB dates on Fruit and Veg increased there sales as some consumers just threw the produce out rather than risk eating it even do there isn't a risk.

Manufacturers also do it so shops have to keep up to date branding, e.g. if they had beans on sale to the retailer he might buy loads and have old faded tatty labels on beans on the shelves. I never saw BB dates on tins in the 80's, I remember my sister giving me a tin of beans past their BB that she was afraid to eat! they last indefinitely, I remember hearing of an elderly couple eating a tin of chicken stew which was over 50 years old. It is perfectly sterile in the tin.

mike65 wrote: »

Never! Suck it and see. Had an egg that was a week past its date yesterday.

I have eaten eggs up to 2 months out of date and they smelled and tasted fine. I had kept them in the fridge, manufacturers have to take worst case scenarios into account. In a open supermarket fridge milk is much warmer than in a normal household fridge, stuff goes off exponentially quicker at warmer temps. At supermarket temps the milk might well go off at the stated date, but it can last way longer in a very cold fridge at home.

Do what your granny did before there were any BB dates -use common sense.

mike65

Bring back the Pantry! If your fridge is operating correctly and you haven't left somthing dairy out in ambient temperatures for more than a few mins you'll be fine.

masterK

The sceptic in me believes that the dates on a lot of products are pure consumerism by the manufacturer, i.e. put a short date on it, consumer will throw it out when it reaches said date and buy more.

olaola

I had an egg dated 22nd Aug yesterday. And I'm still alive.

Use common sense!

mike65

masterK wrote: »

The sceptic in me believes that the dates on a lot of products are pure consumerism by the manufacturer, i.e. put a short date on it, consumer will throw it out when it reaches said date and buy more.

Its to avoid getting sued, if they use very conservative best by/use by dates they are covered and its your fault for not believing them!

A few years ago a fella on the BBC (a consumer show presenter) showed just how these dates can be ignored if you use common sense as he lived on food that was past its use by date for a month without so much as an upset stomach (his wife who was not part of this experiment went down with "Delli Belly" during this!).

billyhead

Do you think it would be okay to eat a cereal bar with a best before date of 3 weeks ago?

ki

there is so much sugar in them there is little else to go off

Krusty_Clown

billyhead wrote: »

Do you think it would be okay to eat a cereal bar with a best before date of 3 weeks ago?

I wouldn't eat a cereal bar when it was still in date. But it shouldn't kill you.