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Eating out-of-date stuff

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby jeral » Sun Oct 18, 2020 12:47 pm

The thing about a concentrated spice paste from a jar is that I doubt I'd be able to tell if it was off unless it was really rank, plus if it was it'd waste all the food.

Can you freeze spice paste that's in jars once opened? (Or freeze as as ice cubes.) Ta.

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby karadekoolaid » Mon Oct 19, 2020 1:03 am

Not suggesting you use it in food; just dip a tsp in and taste. If it´s off, it will either taste very acidic or rancid (thanks to the oil).
And yes, you can freeze it - you can freeze almost anything. What it would be like, I´ve got no idea because I´ve never done it!

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Earthmaiden » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:01 pm

I expect many of you have seen this this weekend. It seems good news to me but am surprised they mention some perishable goods (such as chicken). I think perhaps it is wise to have a use by date for meat etc.Some people are vulnerable and need this info. I suppose it could show a date when the item was packed - but that would be quite a turnoff for many and would probably lead to more, rather than less, waste.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... GTUK_email

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Pampy » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:10 pm

I was thinking about this over Christmas. When I was young (long before best before and use-by dates), we had turkey for Christmas dinner and then ate the leftovers over several days until it was finished. These days, every turkey that I've seen in the shops has a use-by date of 26th December. I wonder how much turkey is wasted because of this?

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby karadekoolaid » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:19 pm

Nope, haven´t seen it EM, but it looks like very sound advice to me.
the "sell-by" or use-by" dates are all very well and good; at least they give one a positive timeline to be concerned about. However, what Thomassina Miers says is spot on. Look, smell, taste and rely on your senses. I´ve had people call me here and ask " the packet of brie says use by 23rd January, and today´s the 24th. Should I throw it out?" Of COURSE not!
Veggies tend to discolour and even rot when past their best, so cut off the bad bits and use the rest.
And before anyone exclaims "Food Poisoning", I doubt that a little tiny taste of something which is slightly "off" could cause serious illness.

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Pampy » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:25 pm

I seem to remember a tv programme a few years ago which documented the presenter living on out-of-date food for a couple of weeks. Most of the food he declared as being fine - there were just a couple of things that he said the taste/texture has suffered. The only things that I tend to take notice of the use-by date are poultry (I don't eat red meat) and fish - and that's mainly because I have to be a bit careful because of health issues. At the moment, I am happily using some HP brown sauce that has a best before date sometime in 2016!

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:28 pm

Surely the use by date on a fresh Turkey is a “cook-by” date rather than a “finish the leftovers by” date?

The problem with trusting a use by date on raw food is that its safe storage life is so dependent on temperature - I push my luck sometimes because I know there will be some margin for error, and it can often be in my fridge within 15 minutes of leaving the shop, not even a car ride. But that could work the other way, depending on transport

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Pampy » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:33 pm

No - the date on a turkey is a use-by, not cook by.

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Suelle » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:37 pm

Pampy wrote:No - the date on a turkey is a use-by, not cook by.


If you cook your poultry on the 'use-by' date you can still eat the cooked meat for the usual 2 or 3 days after that date (whatever your preference is for cooked leftovers).
Traditional home baking, and more:
http://mainlybaking.blogspot.co.uk/

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Pampy » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:40 pm

From the Food Standards Agency website -
After the use-by date, don't eat it, cook it or freeze it
More info here https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/ ... e-by-dates

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:52 pm

i still think that's badly worded, and "don't eat it" refers to food brought home ready to eat

It's the same as cooking food taken raw from the freezer, thawing, cooking and refreezing - the cooking restarts the clock, as it kills the bacteria and fungi, and halts the natural chemical breakdown

Certainly, that's how I continue to behave

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Pampy » Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:00 pm

It might be badly worded but it clearly says "don't cook it" which to me, doesn't imply that the food is ready to eat.
I'm not saying it is right or wrong, just that is what the definition is.

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby scullion » Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:08 pm

i'm one of those people who would rather have a manufacture date on the item - as a sort of count down timer. once an item is at home i go for the nose, taste and bulgy packaging method of telling whether something is edible. i have used packets of tofu (cauldron) that were up to six months past their recommended date, which were perfectly fine.
one of the things i have a real grouse about are the root vegetables that are scrubbed within an inch of their lives - and leeks with the roots cut off, etc. both are sure fire ways to decrease their shelf lives. i would rather have the dirt on.
when i was little my mother would buy a 25kg sack of potatoes that had been riddled but not washed. they stayed good until they were all used. i've bought 2.5kg bags from supermarkets that have shown signs of deterioration before being finished. my grandfather, who grew nearly all of their veg used to store his home grown carrots in peat - they lasted for months in the shed.
we have allowed food processors to remove us from the soil...

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Earthmaiden » Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:16 pm

Pampy, that would be right. As Sue has said, the clock only restarts after cooking has taken place so if the item has gone past the use by date uncooked it should not be cooked/used. If it is cooked before or on the use by date, the clock restarts and you have a few days to eat the cooked item (if you store it correctly in a fridge). In the days before we had a fridge we gave stews etc a good boil each day to keep them 'safe'!

Scully, I think the only trouble with 'packed by' is that it would put people off completely. Things (even meat & fish) are packed such a long time before 'best before' and 'use by' dates, sometimes aided by packaging methods which involve adding gases etc to prolong the life of the item; it is quite offputting. I have seen packaged meat with a use by date of way longer than I would keep butchers meat. When you buy damp carrots in a sealed plastic bag or tomatoes in a cellophane type wrapper they don't last long at all unless you unpack age them. I dread to think how long they've been suffocating in bags. If people really knew how long it has taken supermarket food to get from a to b I'm not sure they'd like it.
Last edited by Earthmaiden on Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:23 pm

scullion it really annoys me that so many veg are only available (very badly) trimmed - reduces the shelf life, inceases the need for packaging, and it a nuisance as you invariably have to do it again, made more difficult by the clumsiness of the first pass

Mange tout spring to mind

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby scullion » Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:24 pm

Earthmaiden wrote:In the days before we had a fridge we gave stews etc a good boil each day to keep them 'safe'!

i still do. if the chinese can have stock pots that have been going for a couple of hundred years i think i'm ok for adapting a pot of soup or stew over a week. (our 'fridge is small).
mind you, i wouldn't suggest we follow all of china's culinary practices...

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby scullion » Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:42 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:scullion it really annoys me that so many veg are only available (very badly) trimmed - reduces the shelf life, inceases the need for packaging, and it a nuisance as you invariably have to do it again,

so true - i always re-trim - such a waste. i do try to buy ones untrimmed in the first place but that's not always possible.
i made coleslaw from some of the outer leaves of a large, white cabbage that has been sitting on the counter since before christmas. it was bought unwrapped and after using some of the outer leaves it was sat on a bowl with a little water in (that didn't quite reach the stem). i have been using it, like that, bit by bit since (usually for coleslaw) - it has some lovely roots on and has stayed fresh (they were developed for storage and to be used that way).
at the beginning of the first lockdown i ordered a white cabbage from tesco it wasn't the whole one described but a wrapped quarter that was moulding within two days. i ordered one from there again stipulating that i didn't want it if it was going to be a cut segment -but the same came again - i don't order them from there any more.

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Pampy » Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:59 pm

Reading what you've done with the cabbage reminds me that I've seen various articles recently about regrowing vegetables from scraps - here's an example https://www.ruralsprout.com/regrow-vegetables/

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby Pampy » Sun Jan 24, 2021 4:09 pm

Earthmaiden wrote:Pampy, that would be right. As Sue has said, the clock only restarts after cooking has taken place so if the item has gone past the use by date uncooked it should not be cooked/used. If it is cooked before or on the use by date, the clock restarts and you have a few days to eat the cooked item (if you store it correctly in a fridge). In the days before we had a fridge we gave stews etc a good boil each day to keep them 'safe'!

I think we'll have to agree to disagree! :D
In my mind, If you cook something on the use-by date, it has to be used by that date. If you had a few days left after that, surely it would say "cook by" on the label? As I said, I'm only commenting on the FSA definition, not whether or not it is correct.

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Re: Eating out-of-date stuff

Postby jeral » Sun Jan 24, 2021 6:30 pm

The problem I have with things that look smell and taste OK which I think might be iffy, or I wouldn't be testing them, is that most give me the runs.

It's debatable whether old veg is worth eating if clearly degrading as they can't have much goodness left in them. Most veg will survive longer if put in a half inch or so of cold water at the root end in a ramekin or jug in the fridge.

I reckon the new incentive will be ignored by those with loadsamoney and ignored by those who don't waste food unnecessarily anyway.

However, I'm talking about normal food. Highly processed compound ready meals are decidedly dodgy IMO after the use-by date and definitely need that date.

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