Lerwick antiques Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 Every product nowadays have a sell by date and use by date. The sell by date is the date which the item can legally be sold and the use by or best before date is when you are supposed to use/eat/drink the product by. How many folk actually follow this best before/use by dates? In my experience, there is usually nothing wrong with the product after the best before date. I know some folk throw the product out as soon as it goes one day past the best before/use by date, but it is an absolute waste in my opinion. These dates never used to be on anything, why didn't folk no turn ill? was it because the product lasted longer? or folk used to have common sense? Just interested in your thoughts on this product dates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 Use by means just that. Use the product by the date shown or possibly experience some bad effect. Best before is another matter. Just the maker saying that the product is best before the date shown. After that date the product can deteriorate but still be safe to use. Sell by dates are normally just an internal date for use by supermarkets and sometimes have a later use by date. At least I think I have got this right. Best advice is to be cautious with all food. If it smells bad do not use it, if it looks bad be cautious. And of course we were once tougher and could cope with food that was off. But we now seem to be getting less resistant to all sorts of nasties. Of course to play totally safe it might be best not to eat food. Slight drawback that death will follow but at least it will not be from food poisoning. Ghostrider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted May 5, 2015 Report Share Posted May 5, 2015 Some now have "Display until" dates as well. Arguably it would be far more sensible to educate folk about the food they eat, so that they know the expected shelf life of various products, and be able to recognise by the sight, smell etc of it when it was either "okay", "iffy", or a dose of the runs or worse waiting to happen, instead of trying to "idiot proof" everything. "Best Before" and "Use By" dates are handy, but should really be seen as advisory rather than absolutes, some products can be pretty high up the "iffy" scale and still be within date, whereas others, depending on what they are, will do you no harm, *if* you can tolerate the taste of them to eat them, even if they are months over their date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerwick antiques Posted May 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 I know of a few folk that throw everything in the bin if it's not eaten or used by the date, don't even open it, just throw it out. I have never followed or paid any attention to dates on products, if it looks, smells and tastes fine then there is nothing wrong with it. I notice that even a bar of soap has a expiry date on it for a years time, what is going to happen to a bar of soap? Ps, think the funniest thing that I have seen written on a packet was a packet of kippers (the type with a blob of butter that you put in the microwave) it said "WARNING, CONTAINS FISH" written on the back of the packet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorrie Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 That'll be food manufacturers covering their own backsides as well as Gubbernment trying to get a grip on unscrupulous retailers for flogging hazardous food. Otherwise you just know some eejit is going to try suing them after they've eaten a 6 month old unfrozen beefburger or summat, so they always err on the side of caution when it comes to those dates. There are some odd anomalies in the system as well. For example if you buy, say, packaged fish or veg it must have 'best by' (veg) or 'use by' (fish) dates attached to it. But if you were to buy veg or fish loose - then there's no requirement to do this...... As has been pointed out by fowk above, common sense seems to go out of the window these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 I notice that even a bar of soap has a expiry date on it for a years time, what is going to happen to a bar of soap? Now that is of course a perfectly serious question so here is a serious answer. After reaching its "best before" date a bar of soap will still work as soap but may lack some of the scents or even "essential oils" that were part of the product and its advertising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooney1 Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Similarly, I noticed the "once open use within X days" rule put on most liquid products doesn't seem to exist in other countries like Australia, where they just refrigerate until used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Best tin of lager that I ever had was 4 years past it's date.. sludgegulper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Purely in the interest of science on behalf of this thread, last night I fed the better half some well known brand of brown sauce which was 10 months over the date. She's still here and by all apperances in her usual normal functioning condition this morning, with no negatives effects noted, yet. This experiment may continue and/or repeated as thought necessary. Edited May 6, 2015 by Ghostrider sludgegulper and Scorrie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffererof1crankymofo Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 @Ghostrider - it was fruity sauce, not brown. Out-of-date mascara isn't a good idea as can cause eye infections and more. (Contemplates whacking mascara on Ghostie whilst He sleeps). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) @Ghostrider - it was fruity sauce, not brown. Out-of-date mascara isn't a good idea as can cause eye infections and more. (Contemplates whacking mascara on Ghostie whilst He sleeps). Ah, you're wanting to try some more of that fruity, not brown, sauce then, are you. Maybe the bit that gets really funky after 10 months lives further down the bottle. Edited May 6, 2015 by Ghostrider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexandraS Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 If the dog shows no interest bin it, else cook it piping hot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travellingbirder Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Ha ha! Some years ago I noticed a "best by" date on a tub of rock salt in the Co-op, at the time it was put into the tub the product would have been around 130 million years old. Also recall a friend trying to buy a fresh mango, also in Co-op...checkout girl, "I'm sorry I can't sell you this", 'Why not', "It's past its sell-by, it should have been taken off display". 'But it's not even ripe yet, it's hard as a rock'. Checkout girl who did not know that mangoes are supposed to be soft and juicy condemned the guilty mango to the bin. No sale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 If the dog shows no interest bin it, else cook it piping hot! Lot to be said for the canine approach; If you can't eat it or, hump it.. Pish on it and walk away... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.