I'm going to reverse the question, If something was within the use by date, say red meat and it clearly off colour and smelt, would you still eat it? If no, then why would you not eat outside date if look and smell was fine?
Well pointed out. Food/drink tend to be heftily accounted for date wise as to not cause the seller a headache regarding complaints.
If it looks and smells ok chances are it is. Apply common sense.
It depends on what type of food or drink it is and how it looks, smells, and tastes.
But sure, I have no problem consuming certain products after the use by date, depending on what they are and how they seem. Just use your common sense and have a good look at the stuff to see if it seems good, and if in doubt be safe and don’t use it.
All the time. Milk lasts a week or two past the date.
I find milk often goes off before the date, probably because it's not stored in a cold enough environment before the supermarket make it available to buy.
Ive always thought the printed dates will actually be a few days earlier than they really expect it to go off to avoid complaints if they push it to close to the line, so I'll happily smell first then drink/eat
Use by.........prepare to die
Best before........go back for more
Depends on what it is. Very cautious with meat, fish and shellfish expiry dates though as you can't always taste/smell the problem (edited)
Do you mean best before instead of use before?
Everything gets the smell/look test and then used if ok. Most cautious with fish and chicken. Main worry is opened and part used products where the Use By is useless. Until the last 50 years humans had to make do with smell and look, species seems to have survived.
I have always regularly gone past use by, by a day or two. If I buy say ham reduced that day, it will still go in my sandwiches for the next couple of days perfectly fine as long as it is of course kept in the fridge.
Common sense is required. Yesterday, I had a small bar of chocolate that was 3 months past the Best Before date and it was fine. Trust your nose and taste buds to tell you rather than what is on the packaging; the latter is mainly for legal reasons and to avoid lawsuits. Use By is a different matter and I am a lot more careful there.
Not with uncooked meat or dairy but with anything else. As long as it smells okay, I'll happily tuck in
To add, we had some cabbage that had been sitting in the fridge for about two weeks (it was probably past its sell-by date). I trimmed the limb/brown bits off and it's fine. Going into our stir fry tonight (edited)
I will eat meat one or 2 days past the use by date, sometimes veg I go as much as a week after (edited)
Depends entirely on the food. I wouldn't with meat, but I have eaten dairy products slightly out of their use-by date. As far as best before dates go, I've eaten a pack of Doritos that were about 9 months out of date. Bit stale though (edited)
Same as others, all depends on the food. Give it an inspection and a sniff and go from there. (edited)
I just use the dates as a guide. Sniff and rely on my sense of disgust. Haven't eaten meat for a long time though.
First dates? Like cinema?
I wouldn't take any chances with fish, meat or dairy but you can be a bit more generous with vegetables (as long as it's not mouldy, sweaty or stinky).
If you're in good health, there's a bit of leeway, I'd say, but if pregnant, elderly or with a weak immune system I'd keep to best before dates.
Meat and fish maybe a day or so, but only if it looks and smells ok.
Veg, fruit and salad check again if it looks and smells ok. I have a melon I cut up yesterday that I purchased in Dec 22 and its perfect to me. Over ripe or wrinkly tomatoes get added to spaghetti sauce or bolognese. Brussel sprouts simply peel off the outer leaves and see if they are still firm and no discoloured.
Milk as others say can be fine beyond the use by, but lifespan does seem shorter in summer. Most hard cheese if unopened is fine.
As for best before dated items I have eaten a couple of Twix top bars recently and they were dated 2019. Biscuit was fine and the chocolate free of any cocoa bloom.
Crisps and snacks can be nasty when well beyond the best before, worst ones I find are the hand cooked ones like Kettle Chips, Seabrooks Lattice and any in non-foil packaging. Its seems to be down to the type of oil used and how much. You can smell when they are not good to eat, reminds me of paint you'd use for decorating years ago.
I've eaten tins of baked beans etc that are years out of date. No problem.
These beans I opened last month still had a year left, not sure what went wrong :/ Looks like something else was in the tin (edited)
I eat things way way past their date- if it ever isn’t ok, I can always throw it. Why throw without trying it first?
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Yes, you have spoken what I have always thought. Days few days earlier not only to avoid complaints but also for safety's sake to prevent any degradation etc
Veggies and fruits - if they look fine. Meat - no.
Tin products - rarely left, we buy them as we need, we did find one kidney bean tin when moving house, it was 1 year past the date, I opened it and it looked fine to use but wife gave me a scary look.
Breads : if I can’t see green, it’s probably alright. But again rarely left.
Sadly I recently had to pour an entire crate of Magners down the sink - they had gone pass their best before and where unpleasant to drink. I have no problems eating stuff that has passed the best before, but I think the use by date is a different matter. Isn't "best before" something that can still be safely eaten and "use by" something that you shouldn't eat? I guess I may read the article.
Yep - just read the article- "The Food Standards Agency says that people should "never eat food after the use-by date, even if it looks and smells ok, as it could make you very ill"."
I think many people on here have confused "best before" with "use by".... (edited)
I've certainly not consfued the difference myself, though it is good to point that out to others still. Though I always laugh at that article, you can eat or cook upto midnight of the date. So at 00:00:01 it suddenly becomes unsafe and should be binned lol.
I never look at the dates, just go by looks and smell. Even meat is OK to use past its date, just look at it. It will go off colour, the packet will swell or it will look slightly slimey or smell odd so any of that just gets binned.
Even use by dates are usually way off.
Yes, i do this all the time. Need to do the look, smell test, then cook and do the taste test.
Sometimes i find it smells bad, but okay when cooked. Sometimes it doesnt smell, but after cooking you can tell its off.
Aldi is the worst with food going off (sometimes even before the use by date). Probably best is waitrose, but then again you get what you pay for. (edited)
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sorted byIf it looks and smells ok chances are it is. Apply common sense.
But sure, I have no problem consuming certain products after the use by date, depending on what they are and how they seem. Just use your common sense and have a good look at the stuff to see if it seems good, and if in doubt be safe and don’t use it.
Best before........go back for more
Depends on what it is. Very cautious with meat, fish and shellfish expiry dates though as you can't always taste/smell the problem (edited)
Until the last 50 years humans had to make do with smell and look, species seems to have survived.
To add, we had some cabbage that had been sitting in the fridge for about two weeks (it was probably past its sell-by date). I trimmed the limb/brown bits off and it's fine. Going into our stir fry tonight (edited)
If you're in good health, there's a bit of leeway, I'd say, but if pregnant, elderly or with a weak immune system I'd keep to best before dates.
Veg, fruit and salad check again if it looks and smells ok. I have a melon I cut up yesterday that I purchased in Dec 22 and its perfect to me. Over ripe or wrinkly tomatoes get added to spaghetti sauce or bolognese. Brussel sprouts simply peel off the outer leaves and see if they are still firm and no discoloured.
Milk as others say can be fine beyond the use by, but lifespan does seem shorter in summer. Most hard cheese if unopened is fine.
As for best before dated items I have eaten a couple of Twix top bars recently and they were dated 2019. Biscuit was fine and the chocolate free of any cocoa bloom.
Crisps and snacks can be nasty when well beyond the best before, worst ones I find are the hand cooked ones like Kettle Chips, Seabrooks Lattice and any in non-foil packaging. Its seems to be down to the type of oil used and how much. You can smell when they are not good to eat, reminds me of paint you'd use for decorating years ago.
Looks like something else was in the tin
Meat - no.
Tin products - rarely left, we buy them as we need, we did find one kidney bean tin when moving house, it was 1 year past the date, I opened it and it looked fine to use but wife gave me a scary look.
Breads : if I can’t see green, it’s probably alright. But again rarely left.
Isn't "best before" something that can still be safely eaten and "use by" something that you shouldn't eat? I guess I may read the article.
Yep - just read the article- "The Food Standards Agency says that people should "never eat food after the use-by date, even if it looks and smells ok, as it could make you very ill"."
I think many people on here have confused "best before" with "use by".... (edited)
Even meat is OK to use past its date, just look at it. It will go off colour, the packet will swell or it will look slightly slimey or smell odd so any of that just gets binned.
Even use by dates are usually way off.
Sometimes i find it smells bad, but okay when cooked. Sometimes it doesnt smell, but after cooking you can tell its off.
Aldi is the worst with food going off (sometimes even before the use by date). Probably best is waitrose, but then again you get what you pay for. (edited)