A Best Before / Use By thread...

[andyoxon]

Realising of course that certain items with an expired use by date possibly shouldn't be touched with a barge pole...

An un-opened pack of red lentils BBE Jan 2018.  Worth currifying or not?

[tatanab]

That is positively new compared to my pack of chick peas which is dated June 2008.  Dried foods I would have no qualms.  I recently opened a can of tuna that was only 10 years out of date.

[citoyen]

I would have no qualms at all about using those lentils.

[SteveC]

Use by means it.

Best before is a recommendation.

(Just renewed my food safety certificate  )

[Jurek]

Until recently I had some ketchup in the fridge dated 2012.

[andyoxon]

That is positively new compared to my pack of chick peas which is dated June 2008.  Dried foods I would have no qualms.  I recently opened a can of tuna that was only 10 years out of date.

But did you eat it?      13-14yrso is impressive. 

[Cudzoziemiec]

As long as they're dry and insect-free, great.

(Even if they have a few insects you might still be able to use them after washing, but you can pretend I didn't say this if you'd prefer.)

I once read of an amateur beekeeper who, finding they were required to put a best before date on jars of honey they sold to the public, asked their local apiarist association for advice, which came back as "Honey found in Egyptian pyramids proved to perfectly good to eat some four thousand years after it was buried. Err on the side of caution and label it 'Best before end of 3020'."

[andyoxon]

   Yep, honey doesn't sit around for long here.


Anyway looking forward to lentil curry (with extra garlic) later in the week.

[hellymedic]

Dry goods last indefinitely but some things turn 'stale' and don't taste too pretty.
Tinned goods last forever.
Nuts can go rancid.
Spices can lose their spiciness.
My 'set' honey seems to be getting wet. I thought the jar was unopened but I wonder if D opened it.

Frozen stuffs is fine.

[Pingu]

The best before may refer to changes of things like flavour, texture or colour.

[hellymedic]

Anything wet needs to be et.

[andrew_s]

That is positively new compared to my pack of chick peas which is dated June 2008.  Dried foods I would have no qualms.  I recently opened a can of tuna that was only 10 years out of date.

But did you eat it?      13-14yrso is impressive. 

Yesterday's lunch included an individual Christmas pud that was BBE March 2007, along with the pot of Ambrosia custard that was lurking with it, BBE Nov 2005.
I seem to have survived 

[Kim]

I can't remember how many years out of date our jar of Marmite (which was mostly used for kitchen pr0n) was before a visitor declared it 'off'.  They were as surprised as we were that that could even happen to Marmite.

[rogerzilla]

Food writers, enviro activists and consumer mags: "Best Before" can be taken literally and food is still ok to eat after that date!

Sainsbury's: Quick! Change it to "Use By".  That'll stymie the suckers and keep them throwing food away.

^^ not a joke, it really happened

[rogerzilla]

Furthermore, Sainos used to sell fresh food as Best Before (2) or Best Before (4).

The number in brackets was the number of days before the date that the item had to be sold at a reduced price.  This minimised the risk that a customer took an item home and found they didn't have time to eat it.

Now it's all Use By and the bastards will sell it at full price up to the last day.  You really need to check dates now, and rummage at the back for one that will last until mid-week.

[Flite]

My tin of black treacle gets opened every other year whan I make two year's supply of Xmas pudds.
I think it is about 12 years old now, it will last longer than I can manage to stir up the pudds.

[phantasmagoriana]

My tin of black treacle gets opened every other year whan I make two year's supply of Xmas pudds.
I think it is about 12 years old now, it will last longer than I can manage to stir up the pudds.

A tin of treacle wouldn't last 12 hours in my kitchen!

[Flite]

It hibernates at the very back of the cupboard....

[Cudzoziemiec]

I thought "best before" and "use by" were two different, legally defined, concepts.

[rafletcher]

Anything wet needs to be et.

Unless it’s honey, that’ll last for decades, but texture can be improved by warming to liquefy then allowing to cool, should it start to crystallise.

[ian]

Anything with a very high sugar or salt content won't really go off, very few micro-organisms can survive the osmotic pressures and sugars are generally reluctant to oxidize at room temperature.

Though in some cases a layer of water forms on top that is lower in sugar and that can encourage microbial growth (hence the mould that can form on top of old jam).

[rogerzilla]

I thought "best before" and "use by" were two different, legally defined, concepts.

There's been a wholesale shift to "use by", which benefits the supermarkets.  They prefer you to waste food as you'll buy more.

[Tim Hall]

My tin of black treacle gets opened every other year whan I make two year's supply of Xmas pudds.
I think it is about 12 years old now, it will last longer than I can manage to stir up the pudds.

Black treacle has (IME) a Dire Warning on the lid saying "dispose of after xxxyyyy date".

[Cudzoziemiec]

Morrison's scraps use by dates on milk:

Morrisons will remove “use-by” dates from milk packaging at the end of the month in an attempt to save millions of pints from being thrown away unnecessarily every year.

The British supermarket is asking customers to use a simple and time-honoured test to work out if cow’s milk is usable: sniff it.

Bottles sold by the retailer will still carry “best before” dates that will give an indication of when the milk will have the best taste, but it can often still be used safely for several days after that point.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jan/09/use-the-sniff-test-morrisons-to-scrap-use-by-dates-from-milk-packaging

I expect this will backfire as people throw milk out when it's passed the best before date instead. Also, the sniff test is widely variable from nose to nose.

[JellyLegs]

I have always used the sniff test on milk rather than rely on the best before / use by date.  It hasn’t let me down yet although my nose and palette are finely attuned to even the slightest floral tang in milk.  I was told years ago, though I can’t remember who by or whether they were qualified to make the assertion so please don’t take my word for it, that milk in particular will always smell / taste rank well before it will do you any harm which is possibly why it doesn’t require a “Use By” date.