Eating out of date food.

[boogieboogie]

Who does this?
I'm one of the sceptics that think many ood labels are unnecessary and are to make us purchase more.

Anyway yesterday cleaning the cupboards out as I do once a year I found a packet of cup noodle mix (like a pot noodle) that expired Jan 07 but I added boiling water and then thought I would taste it. (I don't eat these things hense why it had been there years) anyway before I knew it I'd eaten the whole lot. It wasn't very good but I was hungry. Anyway I live to tell the tale. Proof that dried food is fine to eat after the best before date.

Anyone else scrape the mold of food before consumption?

[Ethel]

It was common for the small corner shop to cut the green mould off the bacon and cheese before putting it on the slicer - never did us any harm.

I do occasionally remove the mould from a corner of a loaf before toasting the rest. I very rarely take notice of the best before dates (except when I am shopping) - if it looks ok, feels ok and smells ok, it is ok.

[coco pops]

i sometimes eat out of date food, like cutting mould off cheese,
dried pasta and rice are ok. I dont like out of date cans of coke because the coke tastes metalic.

[mccfluff]

if it looks and smells ok i'll eat it

[Bathsheba]

It doesn't worry me in the slightest. I did mention on here one time that I had just eaten a Muller Rice that was 10 days out of date and i was quite surprised by how horrified some folk were! xx

[B00]

Yup, im with Ethel- if it looks edible and smells it, it more than likely is.

I've never really taken much notice of use by dates (not to be confused with sell by dates), The Boo household never wastes food and i wouldn't dream of throwing food out beyond its use by date if it looked ok. And we've survived fine up to now, or we've got stomachs like asbestos.

[scotgal]

The reason all packaged food has sell by dates is so that companies can avoid litigation in the event of a consumer eating out of date food and becoming ill. I think however that a lot of it is very extreme. I would certainly use stuff that is out of date (provided it was unopened) and it is only a matter of common sense really. For example I had a tin of condensed milk in my store cupboard that was years out of date but I used it to make a traybake not long ago and it was perfect. I have used yogurts a week past sell by and they were ok too. As long as it smells ok and there's no mould I will use it. The only thing I'm wary of funnily enough is grain products as I once opened a newly bought packet of ground rice when I was weaning my daughter many years ago and it was crawling with mites!!!!!!!!!!

[claireybear]

My parents were trying to eat up some boxes of old cereal recently and my dad opened one in particular to find it full of little fly type things!! Only thing was my mum had just finished off a bowl of it!!! Really put me off eating out of date food!

I am very naughty and throw things away if they are out of date, fridge stuff mainly I know cans can last past their date.

[Eve]

I used to work on a deli counter and we were told to just scrape mould off hard cheeses as the rest would be fine.

I used to get told off as I'd use the slicer as they preferred it to be scraped off with a knife to waste less.

[puddicat]

My mother is the queen of out of date food,slightly embarassing when i take biscuits to work and a colleague remarks that they are a month or so out of date !!!

[jake-the-peg]

Depends what it is

By the time cheese reaches Tesco's bargain bucket it might be just nearly ready to eat!

I'll pass on the shellfish though!

[tiggerblue10]

Long life skimmed milk lasts for ages in the fridge once opened. It doesn't smell or seperate even if left for a week.

[scotgal]

That's what I meant about grain based products claireybear.

[whiffy]

How can cup noodle mix "expire"? What awful things are going to happen except a tiny drop in quality?

I found some pickles BBE Jul 1992, I ate them - perfect. How can vinegar go off?!!!!!

Food safety is common sense.

[puddicat]

Totally agree whiffy,i find alot of people today think that if something is out of date by nanu seconds, they will have salmonella instantly, let common sense prevail!!!

[jake-the-peg]

Don't forget supermarkets don't know who is ging to buy their food.

They have to be sure that what they sell is as safe for someone frail just discharged from hospital as it is for those of us in more rude health.!

They have to err on the side of caution - you don't have to kill many of your OAP customers these days before people start getting quite shirty about it!