A Best Before / Use By thread...

[andrewc]

Tonights feast was a tin of M&S Hot Beef Curry.  Best before before June 2017...... must be from the first batch of my Brexshit stash....

[Cudzoziemiec]

Marks & Spencer is taking "best before" dates off more than 300 fruit and vegetable items to tackle food waste.

They will be replaced by a code that M&S staff can use to check freshness and quality.

I'm curious what this code will be other than a best before in a format that the public can't read. Any ideas?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62199657

[Pickled Onion]

Marks & Spencer is taking "best before" dates off more than 300 fruit and vegetable items to tackle food waste.

They will be replaced by a code that M&S staff can use to check freshness and quality.

I'm curious what this code will be other than a best before in a format that the public can't read. Any ideas?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62199657

[old git mode]
When bread stopped coming in waxed paper and instead came in plastic bags, the tag used to tie the bag was colour-coded so the shop owner knew which was the oldest. It wasn't long before everyone else knew the secrit mnemonic "Buy Our Perishable Goods Yesterday" = Blue (for Monday), Orange, Purple, Green, Yellow.

I assume the modern version will be a QR or Bar code that employees can scan, but will equally take no time at all for apps to be available for anyone who cares.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Yeah, so that QR code or whatever they use is actually a best before code. But is there another way to "check freshness and quality" using a "code" that isn't in effect a date?

[CommuteTooFar]

I bought milk from Asda and the four pint bottle went off before the use by date.  I assume it is the hot weather.  My brother had the same problem.

[Kim]

Yeah, so that QR code or whatever they use is actually a best before code. But is there another way to "check freshness and quality" using a "code" that isn't in effect a date?

Sure, the code could be a meaningless unique ID that can be looked up in a database to obtain salient information such as date and place of manufacture, batch number, when it was put on the shelf, etc.  Some of that might even be useful - I'm imagining being able to flag a batch for early removal across all stores.

Bonus points if the code is also read at point of sale.  Then you can do statistical analysis and determine how long they're spending on the shelves, and buy someone else's carrots next year if it seems that for some unknown reasons customers don't like the ones from CDC Farms Ltd.

I'm not sure removal of best before dates is actually a good idea, given all the anosmia from COVID-19.  I've seen what happens in Postman Piers's fridge when he doesn't have someone with a working nose around...

[spesh]

Wowbagger's post about finding a pack of couscous eight years past its best-by date reminded me about the jar of asafoetida I finished in a veggie curry the other night.

Best before the end of December 2002.

Yes, I know, some people say you should replace your ground spices on a yearly basis, but I go with a smell test - if the aroma hasn't faded, why chuck it out? Put it like this, asafoetida used to be sold double-packed in miniature plastic tubs with screw-on lids inside the jar, because it's pretty pungent stuff (IIRC it's used as a garlic substitute in some Indian recipes) and it was still minging quite strongly years after its nominal best-by date.

Looks like the oldest thing in the kitchen cupboards is the tin of Colman's mustard powder, which was best before the end of March 2004. Not sure about the jar of Szechuan peppercorns, but they might be of a similar vintage...

[L CC]

I threw out the gluten free flour which was BBE July 2020 not because of the date but the fusty smell.

However the vegan 'butter' was best before 17/10 despite being purchased 28/10 and I used it. Hydrogenated Veg Oil doesn't go off that quickly, and it didn't smell.

[rafletcher]

I threw out the gluten free flour which was BBE July 2020 not because of the date but the fusty smell.

However the vegan 'butter' was best before 17/10 despite being purchased 28/10 and I used it. Hydrogenated Veg Oil doesn't go off that quickly, and it didn't smell.

Vegan "butter"??  What's wrong with vegetable margarine....

[Wowbagger]

I think most margarine/butter substitutes still contain some dairy products.

[L CC]

I threw out the gluten free flour which was BBE July 2020 not because of the date but the fusty smell.

However the vegan 'butter' was best before 17/10 despite being purchased 28/10 and I used it. Hydrogenated Veg Oil doesn't go off that quickly, and it didn't smell.

Vegan "butter"??  What's wrong with vegetable margarine....

99.99% of what I eat contains butter. But if you're catering for vegan/gluten/dairy free it is polite to use the best alternative for their dietary needs.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/plant-pioneers/plant-pioneers-vegan-slightly-salted-block-250g

It was for a lemon buttercream style frosting. The recipients pronounced the cake covered in it 'f*cking delicious' and we plan to have our next van signwritten appropriately.

[ian]

Slightly salted block sounds wrong. Like someone has got the hots for brutalist architecture.

In other news, asafoetida* is a bit stinky, but I use the smell test with spices. The whole nutmeg I think dates back to 2002.

*a woman at the market once sold me some jars of curry sauce that didn't, she explained, for reasons too long for me to document and containing the entire religious history of the Indian subcontinent, contain any alliums. I was a bit dubious since any curry I make will include basically at least half a garlic head. They were actually very nice though.

[andrewc]

It's not something I've heard of previously,  and I've never seen it on sale in Matta's, though they do list it.  Perhaps they keep it in a fume cupboard at the back ?



https://www.mattas.co.uk/product/compounded-asafoetida-100g/


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida   "In French it is known (among other names) as merde du Diable, meaning 'shit of the Devil'.[6] In English it is sometimes called Devil's dung "

[rafletcher]

I threw out the gluten free flour which was BBE July 2020 not because of the date but the fusty smell.

However the vegan 'butter' was best before 17/10 despite being purchased 28/10 and I used it. Hydrogenated Veg Oil doesn't go off that quickly, and it didn't smell.

Vegan "butter"??  What's wrong with vegetable margarine....

99.99% of what I eat contains butter. But if you're catering for vegan/gluten/dairy free it is polite to use the best alternative for their dietary needs.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/plant-pioneers/plant-pioneers-vegan-slightly-salted-block-250g

It was for a lemon buttercream style frosting. The recipients pronounced the cake covered in it 'f*cking delicious' and we plan to have our next van signwritten appropriately.

Sorry - I wasn't commenting on what you chose to use - just that AFAIK margarine made from hydrogenated vegetable oils = vegan "butter".

[Poacher]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida   "In French it is known (among other names) as merde du Diable, meaning 'shit of the Devil'.[6] In English it is sometimes called Devil's dung "

A syllable swap in Manoir du Braconnier results in it being called "foetid arse".

[spesh]

*a woman at the market once sold me some jars of curry sauce that didn't, she explained, for reasons too long for me to document and containing the entire religious history of the Indian subcontinent, contain any alliums. I was a bit dubious since any curry I make will include basically at least half a garlic head. They were actually very nice though.

For some reason, I thought the prohibition of eating alliums (and assorted other foods) was to do with the Ayurveda woo/philosophy, but it's from the Sattvic diet, which looks like yogic eating to align your chakras or something like that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sattvic_diet#Tamasic_(sedative)_foods

Nomnomnom mani padme hum...

[Cudzoziemiec]

Or the Catholic version, In nomnomine potatis, et fusilli, et spiritus sanctus, amen.

In the absence of spiritus sanctus, communion wine may be substituted.

[spesh]

Or the Catholic version, In nomnomine potatis, et fusilli, et spiritus sanctus, ramen.

In the absence of spiritus sanctus, communion wine may be substituted.

 

Minor edit made, though... 

[ian]

*a woman at the market once sold me some jars of curry sauce that didn't, she explained, for reasons too long for me to document and containing the entire religious history of the Indian subcontinent, contain any alliums. I was a bit dubious since any curry I make will include basically at least half a garlic head. They were actually very nice though.

For some reason, I thought the prohibition of eating alliums (and assorted other foods) was to do with the Ayurveda woo/philosophy, but it's from the Sattvic diet, which looks like yogic eating to align your chakras or something like that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sattvic_diet#Tamasic_(sedative)_foods

Nomnomnom mani padme hum...

She explained it as connected to Sikh langar - basically the communal kitchen and recipes that offered food to all faiths and castes, so everything on the menu has to offend no one. Which, given the region, is quite the culinary challenge. There was more detail.

Anyway, I wasn't convinced by the jars of sauce she persuaded me to buy, since there weren't many ingredients left after they'd taken out the onions, garlic, and dairy. But surprisingly good. Hope you like them, she said, because I'm retiring and not making any more.

[lissotriton]

Sorry - I wasn't commenting on what you chose to use - just that AFAIK margarine made from hydrogenated vegetable oils = vegan "butter".

Margarine must contain at least 80% fat. Most of these vegan 'butters' are less than that.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Or the Catholic version, In nomnomine potatis, et fusilli, et spiritus sanctus, ramen.

In the absence of spiritus sanctus, communion wine may be substituted.

 

Minor edit made, though... 

✔️

[hellymedic]

I threw out the gluten free flour which was BBE July 2020 not because of the date but the fusty smell.
However the vegan 'butter' was best before 17/10 despite being purchased 28/10 and I used it. Hydrogenated Veg Oil doesn't go off that quickly, and it didn't smell.

Vegan "butter"??  What's wrong with vegetable margarine....

See 'Food Crimes' thread for my views on margarine...

[Zed43]

Day before yesterday I found a sachet of dried "cup a soup" in my office desk drawer, with bb date of June 2016. Tasted fine (as far as these things go) and I live to tell. To the amazement of my colleagues 

[Kim]

Day before yesterday I found a sachet of dried "cup a soup" in my office desk drawer, with bb date of June 2016. Tasted fine (as far as these things go) and I live to tell. To the amazement of my colleagues 

Given progressive recipe 'improvements', there's a good chance it tasted better than a new one would.

[hubner]

The other day I had a packet of instant noodle, best before Oct 2019.

I've got a few of these packets, one has been opened before  2020 with half of the noodle inside, I'm not sure if I should eat it.