Use by date on food....

[Jeros]

Does it actually include the date or does it mean use by the day before?

Google is not helpful.

 

[Billargh]

I generally eat food on the same day it runs out, never had any problems yet.

 

[Raven]

Its a date designed for people who fail as humans. If it smells shit bin it, if it smells OK it is OK.

They need to remove use by dates ASAP.

 

[Scouse]

What Raven said.

My missus throws away perfectly good food because of n00b dates.

 

[Ch3tan]

It amazes me that anyone throws food away because a label tells them to. Food is good until it goes off, not because the date has changed.

 

[Madmaxx]

I love it when places like Tesco reduce steaks down by 50-75% as it goes out of date that day, I just buy and put it in the freezer

 

[Billargh]

I love it when places like Tesco reduce steaks down by 50-75% as it goes out of date that day, I just buy and put it in the freezer

A mate got a fair size Wagyu ribeye steak for like £1.20 the other day cause it was in it's last 'useable' day, I was ridiculously jealous.

 

[Litmus]

i was still eating a loaf of bread the other day 3 days after the use by date, was still nice and soft!

 

[Everz]

i was still eating a loaf of bread the other day 3 days after the use by date, was still nice and soft!

In uni my bread would last a good 2-3 weeks.. any mould? Pick it off and toast the fucker.. problem solved.

 

[caLLous]

Mass-produced bread (especially sliced) is full of so many preservatives and stuff, that's the only reason it lasts.

 

[Lakih]

Its a date designed for people who fail as humans. If it smells shit bin it, if it smells OK it is OK.

They need to remove use by dates ASAP.

I disagree with this.

First off, food poisoning sucks big time. That being said. Used by dates does not mean its lethal the day after.

As for @Jeros
Use common sense. If you bought the thing a year ago, you can most likely use it for a few more months before it gets bad. Also, what is it? Dry spices loose taste and smell... nothing else. Milk? pour it in a glass and/or smell it, if it smells bad or gets lumpy... bin it.

Meat, fish and poultry... be very very careful, but if you get some at a good price and you don't intend to use it right away - put it in the freezer, it's good for a few months and then loose taste gradually.

 

[old.Tohtori]

I like the "best before" dates more then use by.

Only thing i do follow use by dates on is fresh meat products and any kind of chicken stuff.

 

[Olgaline]

In DK at least, and thus I'm guessing also most of the EU countries
the [Use by date] is to be looked apon as the last date of guarantee for the product (as long as said product has been stored according to instructions etc..bla bla)

But the distinction (guarantee) is important, as a [use by date] says absolutly jack squat about when the product will [go bad/stale) but then again, they set that date as close to a realistic date of experation as possible.

It is therfore a good guide as to when said product might expire...I do find it funny though, how blindly we accept the Authoritarianism behind the date.

[Rant on]
I've seen grown men (my otherwise intelligent friends) pour out perfectly good milk becuase...well....the date had expired! - NO YOU MORON! the milk company can not with any certanty tell you exactly on what date the damn milk will expire in your fridge! they can give you a very good estimate...IT ISN'T MAGIC! good milk dosent just go bad on said date, the milk has no knowlage of said date...look at the milk, sniff the milk..you might even...god willing..take a little taste of the milk before pouring it out - bad milk wont kill you! YOU BRAINLESS IDIOT!
[/Rant off]

As Toht mentiones, it should by Law be called [Best Before], as this more closly and accuratly discribes the method

 

[Himse]

The sell by date is the one that is ridiculous, the amount of product we threw away when I worked at Waitrose was insane, hundreds of pounds a week of just fruit & veg.

 

[Olgaline]

The sell by date is the one that is ridiculous, the amount of product we threw away when I worked at Waitrose was insane, hundreds of pounds a week of just fruit & veg.

I look at it as a perk
If you knew the amount of expensive chocolate, jam, chili sauce, foigras, Safron, Truffels etc..I've brought home at no cost due to [sell by]

 

[old.Tohtori]

Funny thing is though, many people who are like others here and say the dates don't matter, still get pissy when they notice they've bought stuff from the store that is out of date

 

[Billargh]

Funny thing is though, many people who are like others here and say the dates don't matter, still get pissy when they notice they've bought stuff from the store that is out of date

It's acceptable to let it run out by your own accord, buying it like that is a no no unless it's heavily reduced (imo ).

 

[Scouse]

food poisoning sucks big time

In 40 years I've had it 3 times. Once coming back from India and twice from restaurants (where they probably were unsanitary).

Never had it at home - and I push all my food to it's absolute limit. Way past the sell-by date if I can.

When it's off, it's easy to tell. If it's on the edge then cook it a little bit more. Job done.

 

[Olgaline]

It's acceptable to let it run out by your own accord, buying it like that is a no no unless it's heavily reduced (imo ).

Still illegal in DK to sell out of date stuff, your not even allowed to sell it at a reduced price

Thats on the vurge of being changed though, so it becomes legal

 

[rynnor]

The problem is that without use by dates shops would be peddling a lot more borderline stuff and food poisonings would increase - in healthy young people its generally nothing but in the sick and elderly it can lead to deaths.

It's probably cheaper to chuck it out than risk the increased costs to NHS / impact on business of lost days etc.

 

[rynnor]

Oh and since its introduction in the UK cases of salmonella poisoning have been cut from 35,000 to 9,000.

Some rules are there for a reason - it's like suddenly saying 'hey the public waste millions each year on washing their hands after going to the toilet!'

 

[old.Tohtori]

Yeah the reasoning behind it is solid, or understandable as shops -would- stocm, spoiled/outdated food more easily. The "law" of not being able to give it to charity etc and having to bin it needs to change though. Would feed a lot of folk with the amount that's thrown away.

 

[rynnor]

The "law" of not being able to give it to charity etc and having to bin it needs to change though. Would feed a lot of folk with the amount that's thrown away.

No sane shop would do it anyway - the PR isn't worth the risks of litigation from charity users claiming food poisoning.

 

[old.Tohtori]

There's all sorts of clauses that could come into play. Use at own risk etc. Depends on the alws of the land ofcourse.

 

[rynnor]

There's all sorts of clauses that could come into play. Use at own risk etc. Depends on the alws of the land ofcourse.

Not really worth the hassle though - plus food wastage is a direct result of capitalism. As soon as you have different brands competing for a fixed size market you will get wastage.

You could practically eliminate food wastage if you removed consumer choice

 

[Olgaline]

All well and good but!

As the law is atm..here is what the stores are allowed to do:

Same peace of meat!

1.

Spoiler

Produced date A - Expiration date B

2.

Spoiler

Produced (Re-Packaged) Day 1 after B - Expiration date C

3.

Spoiler

Produced (Re-Packaged) Day 1 after C - Expiration date D

4.

Spoiler

Produced (Re-Packaged Day) 1 after D - Expiration date E

5.

Spoiler

Produced (Re-Packaged) Day 1 after E - Expiration date F

6.

Spoiler

Throw it out!

Bon Appetit!

 

[Lakih]

Depends on what country we are talking about @Olgaline. In Sweden it's against the law to repackage food after best before date. Was some big fuss about it in the news a year ago.

 

[Olgaline]

Depends on what country we are talking about @Olgaline. In Sweden it's against the law to repackage food after best before date. Was some big fuss about it in the news a year ago.

bloody swedish hippies

The bit that you're missing is, it's not simply being re-packaged (which is illegal, also in DK) it's being reprocessed (turned into something new)
even if it's infact the same peace of meat, and that is legal. (I'm guessing also in Sweden tbh) But sure I could be wrong ofc.

 

[DaGaffer]

When I smoked I always chucked out milk on the use buy date, because my sense of smell sucked and yes, I'd drank (and gagged on) off-milk because of it. Since I stopped smoking my sense of smell has improved dramatically (not always a good thing) so its no longer an issue. Then again in our house we get through so much milk now that reaching the use by date is very rarely an issue.

 

[Bodhi]

Oh and since its introduction in the UK cases of salmonella poisoning have been cut from 35,000 to 9,000.

Some rules are there for a reason - it's like suddenly saying 'hey the public waste millions each year on washing their hands after going to the toilet!'

I don't. I just don't piss on my hands. Much simpler.