Sell-by dates?

[lesleyhannah]

How seriously do other people take sell-by dates? I must say, if stuff looks OK, and smells OK, I take the sell-by date as a suggestion rather than a Law. However, visiting kids have a habit of rooting through the fridge, and bringing my attention to stuff they think should be binned. You'd think I was trying to poison them sometimes!!

I haven't suffered any ill consequences from my laid back approach but wonder how other people feel about the subject.

[Shelli]

I tend to use them as a guide too. Certain things however, go out when use by is exceeded e.g Houmus, taramasalata, anything fish based - for food safety reasons.

i find that unopened Yoghurts are usually good for 5 days after use by as long as they're not probiotic.

I'm not above cutting the hard edges off a piece of hobnailed cheese but wouldn't eat cooked chicken that was over 2 days old - nor would i put it in soup or use any other way.

I think throwing out food is an abomination (mostly because I like eating so much!) as am old fashioned girl who's mum taught her "waste not, want not"

Shelli X

[sandybay]

Don't you think that if you've been taiught how to cook and use raw ingredients you know what's ok and what's not. For a generation brought up on convenience meals it's may be safer for them to be cautious and stick to sell by dates.
I have been caught out with ready made pesto once or twice. Like to keep some in the frifge to add to soups etc. Being green you have to give it a good look !
Oh you won't want to eat dinner at my house now !

[lily]

I heard the other day of someone who did a whole dinner party consisting of past it's sell by food. Don't think I'd be that brave in case anyone was ill! I'd sniff and maybe taste if it was for us, but if for my little grandson I'd go by the date.

[Crocus]

Certain supermarkets here have a sell-by and use-by date. It depends on what product it is. In the case of meat products I won't use it after the use-by date. Especially chicken. That I use immediately or put it in the freezer. Cheese doesn't reach their date, because we all love cheese. Milk the same, because boys drink lots of milk. Joghurt or cream I have used past their use-by date, providing it's still sealed of course. I also don't like to throw food away, try to use everything, or just buy what I need. Something my mum also taught me - not to waste. xx

[franbee]

If it looks right, smells right and tastes right we eat it. Mind you, we are quite careful about using food up. Sometimes we buy food reduced on it's sell by date, and either eat it that day or the next or sometimes freeze it. But those of us of an age when domestic science was taught will remember how to store food and for how long, and that still applies.

[lesleyhannah]

I agree with cooked chicken etc - I do eat that immediately. Although I remember my grandmother, who raised me (before the days when ordinary folk had fridges), kept milk till it smelled 'off' - and then used it for making a sort of cheese curd cake which was delicious - and we all survived.

What about 'cupboard' food - tins, or jars of instant coffee etc? I'd never even looked at sell-by dates on them until my son pointed out an unopened tin of tomatoes was a month past its sell-by date. Rather shamefacedly I put it in the bin (although I'd have used it for myself without a second thought if he hadn't mentioned it!). My kids are beginning to look at me like I've turned into one of those batty old women incapable of looking after themselves - so I'm very glad to hear that other people don't think sell-by dates are written in tablets of stone.

I wonder if posh restaurants are that fussy either?

[sandybay]

Lesleyhannah my mum used to deliberately let milk go off to make a soft cheese for Italian dishes. She mixed rennet oR lemon with it and hung it over the sink for a day or so.
Never killed me...yet !

Haven't eaten meat or fish for many years but if I remember it gets a sort of ammonia type smell doesn't it ?

[JG]

I spent a year in the Falklands in 2002/3 (going back next week for 3 months - eek!) and sell by dates were treated there like the jokes on cornflakes packets - something to amuse you while you were eating them! After all, if you've gone to the expense of shipping it out there, you are darned well going to sell it on!
And, if you love your veggies like me and if you've spent £2 on 4 tomatoes, or £1 on a SLICE of cauliflower, or £1.34 on one cooking apple (I still have the receipt!), all flown in from Chile, you don't cut much off I can tell you!
I'd take a chance on anything packaged and processed and have things like chick peas, lentils and popping corn that is ancient. If tins aren't 'blown' I keep them.
However, I recently bought some beer with a sell by date of 2000 and it was horrible! Serves me right.

[lesleyhannah]

[QUOTE=sandybay;43280] She mixed rennet oR lemon with it and hung it over the sink for a day or so.
QUOTE]

Sandybay - you've reminded me, that's how my Nan used to make the curd cake. she hung the muslin bag over the tap and let the liquid drip out. The stuff that was left she made into the cake. It was absolutely delicious, I wish I knew how to do it.

I feel JG has hit the nail on the head - if food comes too easily to you, you can discard it without thought. I grew up after WW2, when food was rationed, so still can't throw it away when it looks perfectly eatable.

[Crocus]

The time before last we visited the UK, we came in a supermarket one day where they were advertising chicken (barbeque) at half price. We went to the deli counter and I asked the shop assistent why they sell it at half price, whether it's still edible. She told us that they must sell the chicken within the first 30 minutes after it's been prepared. If not they put it up at half price because they are not allowed to keep it until the next day. We bought some of it and it was really delicious and nothing wrong with it. I can't remember which supermarket it was. We bought a whole cooked chicken and even had some of it the next day. Just kept it in the fridge. Have you come across this?

Mr C just now said it was in Asda.

[buecherwurm]

Hi sandybay and leslyhannah,
you describe the way how to make what we in Germany call "Quark". I was told that you can't make it with today's milk anymore because it is pasteurized. Well, maybe I'll give it a try some time just to find out if it works. We can buy Quark in every supermarket but my daugther who lives in Ireland asked for a real cheese/curd cake when she comes for a visit next month.

[sandybay]

I'm going to have a go myself at the cheese LH. Save going to the shops [20 mile round trip]. Will ask my mum Beucherwurm what sort of milk she used.

Too much disposable income is the problem. Maybe the credit crunch will make an impact.

Hang my head in shame and will admit that before we moved and our income dropped with OH stopping work I spent a fortune at Waitrose. Threw things away a lot.
Now, since discovering the joys of budgeting and living away from main shops I use up everything. My OH loves my 'What's in the fridge' meals. He says that's what makes a real cook. I suppose if he didn't eat them he'd starve though wouldn't he !

[souter girl]

We (present company excepted) have come to believe too much what we are told by the so-called professionals. I am sure sell by dates are useful for shops to keep their stock fresh (and I always take from the back with the longest sell-by!) but we can also trust our senses. If it smells off - it is! I used to laugh at our daughters when the eldest was training as a manager with a well-known store know by its 2 initials *&* - she used to visit and clear my fridge of everything past its sell-by date: her younger sister - still at art college did the same, but then took it back to her flat to feed her and her flatmates for the rest of the week!

[annie fenbug]

Some use Sell By, which is about the same as Display Until. With fresh salads & veggies, both of those dates should give at least 2-3 days' fridge life; I'm not sure about meat and fish, certainly fish I try to use within 24 hours but that's more for taste reasons than because I think it's going to poison me. Use By means ... just that! The trouble is, there's no consistency between the various supermarkets/stores and it's often shown in such teensy writing that people don't notice which it is.

[dragonfly]

We used to keep things before sell by dates and fridges. I am with you who if it smells ok use it (except meat). I can buy out of date chocolate from a warehouse cheaply and it is very nice.

Crocus I think most supermarkets do hot cooked chicken, I often get one from Morrisons on my way home from work to save cooking when I get in. They are lovely with a salad or oven chips.