"Use By" Dates - A Rule Or A Guideline?

Casually making my lunch at work today and someone else in the kitchen with me spots that the filling I am putting in my sandwich is 1 day beyond its "use by" date:

"What are you doing, that's gone off!"

I explain that the date was only yesterday, that nothing about the food indicates to me that it is not suitable for eating and that these dates are only guidelines.

"Well rather you than me mate!"

Obviously certain foods are more sensitive than others in this area, but I can't imagine just chucking out food that is still "good" simply because some bit of packaging tells me it has passed its date!

Who is being weird in this situation? Am I a disgusting creature who is clearly going to die of food poisoning and this guy was a hero for trying to stop me, or is he being overly sensitive and I'm the hero for using things up and not wasting food?

What are your thoughts on "Use By" or "Best Before" dates?

RIP in peace

I used to rely way too much on use by dates

Then I moved to NYC where these labels are optional not mandatory, hence they’re often not shown at all. So now I rely on look/smell instead.

Today we mourn the passing of Jenuall the Unfunny, first of his name. Whilst many thought him simple, he was in fact even more stupid than you could realise - the man ate a whole tub of egg mayonnaise sandwich filling the day after its use by date for goodness sake! The utter madness, the sheer lunacy. Imagine being that dense!

As this counts as suicide I'm afraid he'll have to spend eternity in hell, having his innards pulled out and then stuffed back up his rectum over and over for all time.

RIP in peace, dearly departed and stupid Jenuall, your soul is wiv da angles now xx

Did you even think about the forum before you went and consumed out of date food which has a 100% probability to kill you?
We need all the members we can get at the moment

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People seem to enjoy getting all uptight about this. All the smart, bodacious dudes like me know that you've got at least 3-5 days (depending on the product) after the date.

It should be a sight/smell/touch thing anyway really, rather than a date printed by a machine, although again depending on the product it can be more difficult with certain items.

Last edited by Cumberdanes on Tue Jul 16, 2019 2:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Best Before dates are by the very name a guideline. I think they're a load of rubbish for the most part a day or two longer on most things will make no difference. The amount of salt and sugar in some foods means as long they are stored correctly they keep for bloody ages. Then there's tinned and dried foods which can often be used months even years beyond their best before date.

You are far better served relying on how things look and smell. That said I have a bit of a cast iron stomach. I eat just about owt and have only ever had food poisoning once in my life and that was after a take away that wasn't reheated thoroughly enough by my dad.

"Use by" is legally distinct from "Best before". Read up on the distinction here.

In summary: Best before dates are about quality, Use-by dates are about safety

It's still a guide, because conditions vary, but while best before can mostly be ignored, use by should generally be followed.

I always make sure to use stuff before the date (especially things like dairy products and meat), bread is usually okay to eat after though, well, until you start getting green bits on it anyways.

They exist to protect food companies from being sued by people eating old stuff and getting ill/dying. Go with your own senses over what Big Food tells you.

Vermilion wrote:I always make sure to use stuff before the date (especially things like dairy products and meat), bread is usually okay to eat after though, well, until you start getting green bits on it anyways.

And even then it's fine if you toast it!

I mean, safe. Not fine. It still tastes awful

Does it pass the sight and smell test?

They’re just a very rough guide, mainly for fresh meat and particularly fish. On fruit, vegetables and canned goods they’re completely wrong (berries I find are prone to going off even before their use by date). And “use within 3 days” on things like (the majority of) cheeses and milk is also complete bollocks (has anyone ever finished off a block of cheese in the allotted time?)

With eggs you’ll know if you dunk them in water (they gradually turn upright and then float when they’re off).

Salad bags are more temperamental, but they’re generally good for a few days if you put a sheet of kitchen roll in the bag and roll the bag back up (some supermarkets have finally started putting this sort of info on the bag).

Last time I had food poisoning was about 20 years ago after eating ice cream from a cinema.

I used to occasionally blag free sandwiches at the corner shop down the road from me because they were a day out of date. I wouldn't even check the date but when I would go to pay the owner would always check and say he wasn't allowed to sell it to me if it was out of date so I'd get it for free.

If you don’t mind shopping late in the evening, use by dates can really work to your advantage because supermarkets go mental with the old yellow sticker gun.

There is always crowd of people waiting around for the reduced stuff to get put on display at my local Tesco around 19:00. Weirdly it's often the same people. I pick up the odd thing myself from time to time, mostly sandwiches and wraps but occasionally I'll strike lucky and get stuff I can stick in the freezer like fresh pizzas or meat.

KK wrote:(berries I find are prone to going off even before their use by date)

I've bought blackberries maybe 3 times from Aldi, and every time some of them were mouldy. I think it's their lack of adequate refrigeration, combined with the high surface area of the berries making them naturally prone to bacterial growth.

IAmTheSaladMan wrote:There is always crowd of people waiting around for the reduced stuff to get put on display at my local Tesco around 19:00. Weirdly it's often the same people.

Not sure it's weird, they may well be struggling financially so need to shop reduced.

OrangeRKN wrote:
KK wrote:(berries I find are prone to going off even before their use by date)

I've bought blackberries maybe 3 times from Aldi, and every time some of them were mouldy. I think it's their lack of adequate refrigeration, combined with the high surface area of the berries making them naturally prone to bacterial growth.

IAmTheSaladMan wrote:There is always crowd of people waiting around for the reduced stuff to get put on display at my local Tesco around 19:00. Weirdly it's often the same people.

Not sure it's weird, they may well be struggling financially so need to shop reduced.

Yeah you're probably right there, poor choice of words on my part.

OrangeRKN wrote:
KK wrote:(berries I find are prone to going off even before their use by date)

I've bought blackberries maybe 3 times from Aldi, and every time some of them were mouldy. I think it's their lack of adequate refrigeration, combined with the high surface area of the berries making them naturally prone to bacterial growth.

IAmTheSaladMan wrote:There is always crowd of people waiting around for the reduced stuff to get put on display at my local Tesco around 19:00. Weirdly it's often the same people.

Not sure it's weird, they may well be struggling financially so need to shop reduced.

And yet they probably never buy anything that you'd consider a staple. Mostly they're kidding themselves they're getting a bargain for something they don't need.

I use to live by a Tesco metro and would go in on my way home from work and pick up sandwiches for 30-50p in their reduced section for lunch the next day. Great times :wub:

"Use By" Dates - A Rule Or A Guideline?

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