do you eat food that's past the use by date?

genericguy

I'm looking at a cake right now, and it according to the date on the box it went off on the 9th. now, i love this particular cake, and I want to eat it, but I have the idea of throwing such items away ingrained into me from my mother. On the other hand, my housemate is a fcuking barbarian. Yesterday he ate some strange thing that he bought in south america in 2007, which expired in june 2008 (I actually think this is more cos he's a tight git - he actually said "this is horrible" and proceeded to eat a huge plate of it rather than run to the shop).

Anyway, help me out - would you eat food that's a little while past the use by date?

TPD

If the cake isn't mouldy, eat it. Not that the mould will harm you, itd just be a bit weird.


I had mince today, which was brown when raw. I'm concerned. I was only told after eating it that it had expired, I just figured it was some kind of fancy mince when I saw it in the fridge.

Hogzy

Dunno about mince but steaks are perfectly good to eat when they go brown, in fact they are better, aged beef is more tender!!!

Flying Abruptly

Its out by a week or less than yes
Anything more than that no

laoisforliam

Pick the any mould off and you're good to go..

I reckon the dates are just ball park figures anyways

Schism

:pac:....... om nom nom.

Go for it OP, report back with the results.

genericguy

The Perfect Drug wrote: »

If the cake isn't mouldy, eat it. Not that the mould will harm you, itd just be a bit weird.


I had mince today, which was brown when raw. I'm concerned. I was only told after eating it that it had expired, I just figured it was some kind of fancy mince when I saw it in the fridge.

thanks man (or woman), the worst thing is I'm a fcuking scientist and I'm still afraid even though I know it won't kill me. I blame me ma.

Stay away from brown mince though, dodgy meats will fcuk you up.

My name is URL

I don't but I'm fairly sure it wouldn't do any harm. I just can't bring myself to do it

I heard a freegan on the radio yesterday talking about how supermarkets dump food if they've oredered too much of it.. so there's no reason to think they don't have short use buy dates to ensure that it'll be restocked regularly

admiralofthefleet

yeah, if it smells and looks ok then its grand

genericguy

Cake eaten. It was so delicious, I got a semi.

wudangclan

isn't it being done away with here or in england because of the amount of perfectly edible food which is thrown out.?
it's just a gimmick to keep us buying more.

TPD

genericguy wrote: »

thanks man (or woman), the worst thing is I'm a fcuking scientist and I'm still afraid even though I know it won't kill me. I blame me ma.

Stay away from brown mince though, dodgy meats will fcuk you up.

Its man, and now my stomach is feeling queasy. I'm after a bowl of chilli made with the stuff.

Adamcp898

It'll be grand it's cake, I eat out of date stuff unless it's something dodgy like chicken or horrible like milk when it's gone off

walter sobchak

Don't worry about a Best Before date, but don't eat it if it has a Use By date (usually on chilled products) .... Listeria can build up in food - it doesn't taste or smell 'off' but it can seriously fook you up.

fikay

laoisforliam wrote: »

Pick the mould off and you're good to go..

I tell the missus that all the time

ChocolateSauce

If it's been in the fridge, usually two or maybe three days past depending on the food. Frozen, unlimited time. I once ate a joint of lamb that was 3 years old and it tasted fine.

Red_Marauder

I generally rely on the senses to tell if something is good to eat or not. I've often drank milk that was slightly off, scraped mould from bread for toasting, and definitely would have no problem eating slightly stale cake. I would draw the line at meat, particularly pork, and would never eat meat that had expired more than a day ago

genericguy

The Perfect Drug wrote: »

Its man, and now my stomach is feeling queasy. I'm after a bowl of chilli made with the stuff.

Nah I doubt you'd feel sick from it today, it'd take a while, I'd say you're a little paranoid at the thought more than anything else. Do let us know how that goes though!

Feel better bruh

genericguy

this whole thread reminds me of homer's sandwich in the duff gardens episode. "how could I stay mad at you?" :pac:

WeeBushy

Ah yeah, if it's meat and doesn't smell funny go for it. Anything else, so long as there's no mould it's fair game.

My granny however takes it to a new level. I was helping her clear out her house a few months ago and I found a bottle of Shweppes that had a sell by date of 1987... And she tried to stop me throwing it out. It was older than me. Said that it was only a "rough guide".

DamienH

Best before, alright after!

SeekUp

Frozen, definitely.

Yogurt? Absolutely!

gerky

Food poisoning usually sets in anywhere from two hours - six hours but can be to several days after the offending item was ate.

While there's no need to be wasting good food, there's also no need to be silly and take risks with peoples health.
Use by means just that and covers perishable food such as dairy,meats and other fresh food products, to take risks with these products is just plain stupid, people get sick or die all to often illness related to food poisoning.

Frozen food also has a use by date depending on what the food is go to the food safety authority site and they should have a list and times that are safe to be frozen, frozen does not mean safe forever.

Best before dates are different in that they're usually a guideline to use food while its at its best but it still doesn't mean that they'll be safe months-years after they're BB dates just use common sense.







This has been a public safety announcement brought to you by boards:D

barakus

People are too paranoid about this kind of stuff, I buy a lot of shopping out of the reduced to clear section in tesco or dunnes and save a good bit that way, you can just throw the stuff in the freezer when you get home if needs be anyway.
Food generally tells you when its gone off anyway, just smell it/ touch it, if meat is slimy or sticky and smells sickly sweet throw that shit out.
Pisses me off when I see people throw away perfectly good food because of BBF labels.People starving in Africa blah blah etc etc

miss_shadow

Some things are ok,like yoghurt and cheese. Other food is manky eating over its use by date,purely because of the quality of the taste of food. Who the ferk wants to eat bread with the hint of mould! Gross.

cherryghost

yeah eat the odd bit of pork thats out of date.


FOLKS ITS PAST ITS SELL BY DATE, ITS STILL GOOD TO EAT.

January

gerky wrote: »

Frozen food also has a use by date depending on what the food is go to the food safety authority site and they should have a list and times that are safe to be frozen, frozen does not mean safe forever.



This has been a public safety announcement brought to you by boards:D

Ah I don't believe that! If It's below a certain temperature, germs can't get in or out and once it's cooked above a certain temp it's safe to eat. It may not taste the same as it would if it was fresh frozen in the last month but it is safe.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Overheal

Depends on many factors. Are you broke? Can you afford to throw the cake in the bin? What are the risks of eating out of date cake? Do these risks outweigh the cost of throwing away the cake?

For instance there is week old sushi in the fridge. I have NO idea if its good for a month or 2 days. I know that Off-Sushi can do serious damage to my bowels. I have other things to eat. Sushi wasnt that expensive. Conclusion: chuck the fish, as delicious as it may have been in its former life as Fresh Sushi.

crosstownk

If it smells OK then I eat it. Personally, I reckon use by dates are guideline that are generally on the cautious side. I keep the fridge on it's lowest setting (2°C) and that seems to help keep stuff fresher for longer.

If it smells odd, looks weird or has a family of maggots living in it then I put in the bin - regardless of the date.

fifth

Use by = No

Sell by/Best before = Fair game