Use by dates on Deli meat

Bigcheeze

I prefer to buy cooked meats, ham, turkey etc from the Deli counter in Superquinn as I think the flavour is better than in packaged meat.

However, the use by date is always 2 days away so I often end up throwing away meat.

On packaged meat, the use by date can often be 3 weeks away.

Today,I have four slices of ham bought on the 18th with a use by date of 20th. It looks and smells fresh so I feel guilty about dumping it. How reliable are those dates ?

Mr. Presentable

The EU has stipulated food producers must hold consumers by the hand and tell them when food is safe. The simple fact is that the use by date is not based on the actual product you bought becoming bad when the clock crossed midnight. It is based on the clock passing midnight.

If the food is still fresh, and it would appear it is, then it makes no sense to throw it out. My wife throws everything out on the date of use by. This includes canned goods (which we know can last decades) chocolate bars, alcoholic beverages (:eek:), veg. All without regard for whether there is actually anything wrong with them.

So, take it as advisement, not a direction.

Bigcheeze

Yeah normally I wouldn't worry about them in the cases of drinks, dried food etc. If they're past their date and they taste ok I'll use them.

It's just with cooked meat I'd be worried about making myself or worse one of the kids seriously ill.

FTGFOP

Well unless they're really busy they're hardly dumping the roll your slices came from every two days, so why should your portion of the roll be gone after two days?

If it was raw meat I'd consider the use by date but with stuff like ham if it smells fine I'd be happy to use it. Unless it's spent ages above fridge temperature it'll be fine, I'm sure.

rubadub

Bigcheeze wrote: »

It looks and smells fresh so I feel guilty about dumping it.

If you had gone to another deli or butchers you might have had no date at all on it, so do exactly what you would have done in that case.

There are plenty of 90 year old's about, and I doubt they ever heard of use by dates when they were young yet they managed to live this long!

Bigcheeze

rubadub wrote: »

so do exactly what you would have done in that case.

Ehhhh come on to Boards and ask if it's ok


I ate it. I'm alive!!


It is a crap system though. I'm sure most people would dump it.

Use by dates are really really conservative. Best before dates are even shorter than that. As far as I'm concerned, Best Before doesn't mean "throw out after", all it means is, if you get sick by some fluke we're not legally responsible. Trust you're eyes and your nose, not the packaging!

That said, if kids are involved I'd only give it an extra two days or so, just in case

kenmc

I love the whole "once opened use in 24 hours" lark, despite the use by date on e.g. a packet of ham being 3 weeks away. I fail to see how opening it can reduce its life by 20 days.

Alun

kenmc wrote: »

I love the whole "once opened use in 24 hours" lark, despite the use by date on e.g. a packet of ham being 3 weeks away. I fail to see how opening it can reduce its life by 20 days.

Quite simple really. It's because the packets are filled with a so-called protective atmosphere with very little oxygen and a high percentage of CO2 which strongly inhibits the growth of certain microbes especially Listeria (which you really, really don't want.) Once you open the packet that's it, it's exposed to the normal atmosphere complete with oxygen which not only facilitates microbial growth but causes discolouration through oxidization.

rubadub

Alun wrote: »

it's exposed to the normal atmosphere complete with oxygen which not only facilitates microbial growth but causes discolouration through oxidization.

The same is true of jars, most jars and tinned food will last indefinitely on the shelf as many are sterilized, I have sterilized jars of cooked rice myself and found some which were over 5 years old with no sign of contamination. The second it is opened you can consider them contaminated.

Some jars are not sterilized, I think Pataks do not sterilize their sauces, they might be pasteurized though.

If I am going to use say a curry sauce on a few occasions I will first leave it in the fridge to chill, then open it and seal ASAP to get minimize contamination from airborne particles. Since it is prechilled it will reduce the amount of bacteria even beginning to grow.

You can cook things in "controlled environments" yourself, e.g. wrapping a chicken fillet very well in tinfoil and cook it and refrigerate it immediately.