Sell By Dates - Do You Take Much Notice of Them?

by Clam 32 Replies latest jw friends

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  Clam

  Sell By and Use By dates on food produce seem to have become the norm these days. On one side we have the squeaky clean supermarkets with their dating system, while on the other side is a combination of media scare stories about Listeria, Salmonella etc. and voracious food standards authorities.

  Is it all a bit over the top do you think? Obviously food hygeine and health are of paramount importance, but just recently it seems to have gone too far. I have to say that I still rely on my nose to tell me whether a lot of the food I eat is still ok to consume. Some foods like cheeses for instance may be well past their best according to the retailer but often all you have to do is cut off the rind or mouldy bits.

  Do you take a lot of notice of this date labelling? Does over cautious food labelling result in far too much waste?

  Clam
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  brinjen

  When I worked in a supermarket at the checkouts, I was always having to take items back as I noticed the 'use by' date had expired. It's highly illegal to sell anything past this date. Even if its a non food item. It was usually the dairy and at a reduced price. I would just tell them to grab a fresh one and I put that one through at the reduced price.
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  Crumpet

  have to say that I still rely on my nose to tell me whether a lot of the food I eat is still ok to consume.

  Yeah I'm with you on that Clam. One thing I wont eat even close to the date though is prawns. I bought an on the date prawn sandwich from tesco's a few years back and ended up in hospital for several days with Salmonella poisoning and badly dehydrated and on a drip. That's not an experience i'd want to repeat.
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  RichieRich

  i don't care on potato chips and such, but meat and ESPECIALLY milk, I pay attention.
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  Crumpet

  Milk you can tell its off straight away anyway. I can actually curdle milk just by looking at it.
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  DJK

  My wife purchased eggs one morning for breakfast. We both got sick, not too serious. Looking at the carton after the fact, they were past date by one day.
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  OUTLAW

  One of the first things we learned in Culinary Arts School,was expiration of food..You could poison a whole restaraunt full of people.....Improperly kept food is a breeding ground for bacteria.It can make you sick and possibly kill you...OUTLAW
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  greendawn

  Thre are two kinds of by dates the "use by" date which must not be sold after it expires under any circumstances and is used on things like fresh meat and milk and the "sell by" date items which can be sold after their expiry date eg chocolates.

  Crumpet did you sue Tesco? As for milk it can be dangerous before it splits if not properly kept.
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  Clam

  Milk you can tell its off straight away anyway. I can actually curdle milk just by looking at it.

  LOL Crumept that's some kind of watered down Medusa trick you've got there.

  My wife purchased eggs one morning for breakfast. We both got sick, not too serious. Looking at the carton after the fact, they were past date by one day.

  That's really bad luck DJK. I'm always eating eggs that are weeks past their sell by date. I rely on refrigeration to keep them going I suppose, but maybe I've also been influenced by my upbringing. My Mum kept stuff for ages and none of us got ill at all.

  Outlaw I was thinking of you when I opened this subject. How often do you go to a store? Do you mainly rely on dried and frozen stuff?

  I'm intruiged by a group over here called Freegans who go round food retailers, sandwich bars, restaurants etc and ask for the expired food which is still sealed. People are happier to give it to them rather than bin it. None of them report ever having food poisoning problems and they eat for nothing.

  Clam
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  Paralipomenon

  I confess that I am a careful watcher of best buy dates. I'll even toss something if it gets close to the expiry. My rationalization is, at that point the item is mostly expired. Wasteful? Yes, but it's not a frequent occurrence in my house.
  
  With three growing boys, food rarely has a chance to expire. We're actually lucky if certain items make it to the refrigerator.