Use by dates

[sue11]

How rigidly does everyone stick to use by dates on food that is consumed in your home? I ate a lemon fool desert last night with a use by date of 11 March and my other half ate a yoghurt with a use by date of 27th February! Note that we do not normally eat food that much out of date, but they both looked and smelt absolutely fine, they also tasted good.
There was a programme on a few years ago in which the presenter, I think it was Monty Don, tested various foods past their use by dates over a period of days and got up to a good 2 to 3 weeks past the dates. He lab tested all types of food including meats and dairy and found that none had any problems, the worst sample was some mince that had gone green in colour. but fried up to look and smell just the same as a fresh batch. The results of the lab test showed it was absolutely fine as the heating process had killed off all the nasty bugs that could have given food poisoning. I know that heating food past a certain temperature does kill off lots of nasty bugs so I do not worry too much about using food a few days past the use by dates.
Do you all throw away food that as soon as it reaches it's use by date or do you not worry if it goes a few days beyond?

[missprim]

It depends what it is but I usually go by smell or taste. I did have half a dozen eggs left over on their use by date but I still used them over the following week.

[BlueScorpion]

I've had to educate my son about these dates, he once threw out a perfectly good cucumber just because it had been in the fridge a week.

[katdarn79]

Yeah i saw that tv program, that mince looked horrible! He never got ill in the whole time off eating the out of date food. Id eat them if they looked & smelt ok.

[sue11]

Thanks for the replies so far, I think that common sense is prevailing and agree that as long as it smells and looks fine then it probably will be okay.
The only exception to that rule seems to be coleslaw which seems to quickly start to ferment if it just passes the use by date, perhaps the manufacturers sneakily design it this way to encourage us all to chuck it out and buy lots more!

[Old_Geezer]

It's a question often asked here.

It has to be way way past before I'd not contemplate checking it out to see. Not done me any harm yet.

[Old_Geezer]

"perfectly good cucumber" ?!?!?!?!? No I don't understand the concept.

Oh: unless it is to help folk expel poisons they have swallowed ?

[Kristal53]

An item containing salmonella will smell perfectly OK so the smell test unfortunately will not help you there. Mould on bread and cheese goes much deeper than the surface stuff you see and mould spores can be very nasty. i will use something a few days over if its been packaged and not opened but never chicken or fish

[sue11]

I think I now see cucumbers in a different light after watching an episode of come dine with me and the contestant was rubbing the cut end of the cucumber to get rid of the white bitter juices which started to flow out of the cut end. In typical style to accompany this interesting revelation, Come Dine with Me was playing the music from Captain Pugwash and it did seem very appropriate!

[sue11]

Thanks Kristal53, I agree with the comments about mould on bread and will not eat mouldy bread, but I must admit I tend to just cut off any surface mould on cheese! So far I have not suffered any ill effects from doing this.

[Old_Geezer]

Mould is a sure sign not to eat it. You only have to consider blue or green veined cheese. Date or no date.

[sue11]

I like your replies old geezer!!

[jamesnan]

I was given 2 christmas puddings the other day, the date was up and my friend was going to put them in the bin! Smell everything first, and if it looks ok, and smells ok, then eat it!

[sue11]

I have happily eaten a christmas pudding which was made over a year earlier and it tasted wonderful! That admission also makes my claim of not eating food more than a few days past it's sell by date a bit suspect! However I definitely think that Christmas pudding is in a league of it's own and exceptions need to be made!

[madmaggot]

It would depend whether it was a commercially prepared product like a pie or minced beef; ie something that has been 'messed with'. These I am very careful with although not regid about dates.
Items such as veggies or meat joints I do as you do Sue and use my nose and eyes to decide.
Tinned and dried food I totally ignore the dates, always.

[sue11]

Thanks madmaggot, I think I tend to go by the heating kills most of the bad guys theory so will not worry too much with meat pies etc as long as it is going in the oven. I think a few days past on any chilled cold meat pie or other such product will probably be okay. I agree that anything tinned or dried is probably going to last years without too many issues!

[murraymints]

I HATE wasting food...there is enough hunger in this world..so I am with the majority if it looks/smells/tastes ok...fine by me!

[sue11]

Thanks again for all the answers and views given, I am going offline now so apologise that I will not respond immediately to any more replies!