It was all I had left ..... and to be honest, normally I would only have used it for toast - of thrown it out for the birds. But with some greasy bacon and ketchup it was fine! I just checked the bag it came in (I keep them to use as rubbish bags) and the best before date was 23 Dec
Given that something like 30% of food that's bought ends up getting thrown out, that may not be a bad thing!
Given that for fresh produce a use by date is often nothing more than an educated guess (we have all had things go bad before the date and/or be useable quite some time past it), it may well be the case that all data isn't necessarily useful information.
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If it was a 'Use By' date, then technically both the staff member and the retailer committed a criminal offence selling it to you as the date relates to food safety. A recent test case in the High Court ruled that selling food beyond the Use By date constituted a prima facie criminal offence under the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations 2013.A few years ago I was on a walking trip in deepest mid Wales and walked down off the hills into a village for lunch. Unfortunately the pub I'd expected to eat at was closed, and the only other option was the post office shop, which was itself closed for lunch. Having waited around until it reopened, I went in and was pleased to find a lone cheese sandwich left on the shelf. Unfortunately when I took it to the counter, the lady serving said she couldn't sell it to me, as its sell-by date was the previous day.
I explained that I had no other options for food (there were no other shops within about five miles, and no public transport due for several hours), and that if I was at home, I'd have no qualms about eating cheese well over a day past its date. In the end she sold it to me at half price - I'm not sure how that satisfied any legal issues, but it seemed like a good outcome all round - I got my lunch and at half price, the shop got some income, and we avoided wasting food. It tasted absolutely fine
Isn't part of the problem that they may well be erring on the side of caution and putting dates on that are far earlier than they need to be.
Except its not useful information if you end up throwing out perfectly good food because of a sell / use by date. And besides we've always had that information, by the use of sight, touch, & smell. It is far more useful to understand when your food is good through passed-on knowledge rather than an arbitrary label. In industrialised nations, anywhere between 30-40% of food is thrown away without ever being used, often because of those labels. Most adults should be able to go to a market, and buy fresh, unlabelled fruit and veg, safe in the knowledge that they will know when they can use it to eat as fresh, or to use it in cooking.
When we were getting our office milk from a local creamery, we often found that after the weekend, the "green top" milk had floating bits, even on unopened bottles which were still in date. We were sure it was just fat that had settled from them being laid on their side, but as nobody wanted to use it, we often ended up pouring up to 8 pints away each Monday (we only had two deliveries a week so had to forward guess what we needed).
I have often (and did so the other day) bought reduced price packaged sandwiches and had them the day after if out or at work - makes lunch a bit cheaper than the full price optionA few years ago I was on a walking trip in deepest mid Wales and walked down off the hills into a village for lunch. Unfortunately the pub I'd expected to eat at was closed, and the only other option was the post office shop, which was itself closed for lunch. Having waited around until it reopened, I went in and was pleased to find a lone cheese sandwich left on the shelf. Unfortunately when I took it to the counter, the lady serving said she couldn't sell it to me, as its sell-by date was the previous day.
I explained that I had no other options for food (there were no other shops within about five miles, and no public transport due for several hours), and that if I was at home, I'd have no qualms about eating cheese well over a day past its date. In the end she sold it to me at half price - I'm not sure how that satisfied any legal issues, but it seemed like a good outcome all round - I got my lunch and at half price, the shop got some income, and we avoided wasting food. It tasted absolutely fine
(also a good way to try new things, I find)Some people seem to take great exception to this date information being offered at all, as if it's mandatory to replace their own judgement. Surely if the consumer considers the guidance irrelevant they're free to disregard it. For those who wish to use the date as one of various factors in determining food freshness (particularly when it remains unopened or invisible) they'd be free to do so if the date is printed. They can't do that if there's no date shown on the packaging.
The only suggestion I can think of for this (and some items already have it) is to include a "packed/bottled on" date. It may lead to other issues though, more confusion and may not always be viable as some produce may be packed, frozen, defrosted and then sold
I've no objection to dates being provided, but I'm also not opposed to their removal.
You should be very careful with Use By dated items ie Meat, Diary and prepared foods this is quite separate to Best Before dates on Fruit Veg etc
Again you a confusing best before and use by. Milk has use by dates.
My point here is that many people treat them as absolutes, when they are not. So much food waste happens because of that, maybe teaching people how to tell if food is actually fresh would help slow that trend?
Quite honestly neither do the various different labels. You've already admitted that these days are at best inaccurate, and I agree. I've had milk go off days before the sell by dates, and milk that has lasted beyond. Which is why I tend to buy only enough to last a few days maximum, and frankly if we had a local milkman I'd go back to getting it delivered. That worked out well for decades.
I think I've made my point well enough about sell / use by dates in the context of food waste. Its really not that hard, even for people not brought up to learn how to buy, prepare, store and cook food. All the info anyone ever needs to know is right there in front of them.
I waited until after my weekly supermarket run to respond to this. I only buy 3 things from the fruit and veg aisles of my local supermarket: loose bananas, lettuce in sealed bags and mushrooms in punnets. This information was very helpful today for the lettuce and mushrooms, thanks for sharing it. mushrooms are 008 and lettuce 012.
We've strived too much for perfection in every way possible at a guess, where slight imperfections should be discarded. This mindset extends across other walks of life, including thinking we can and should extend life expectancy forever, even if quality of life and the expense on society this involves are ignored.
Of course the milkman's glass bottles never had a use by date, but it wasn't a problem because you got fresh supplies every day.
I'm the same. My food waste generally consists of egg shells, peelings and teabags. Occasionally a couple of slices of bread.
The best investment I've made in the last few years was a half-size chest freezer (around 90 litres), and a load of plastic, microwavable containers. Anything close to going off, or indeed any significant leftovers get used in a stew or something and frozen. It saves a ton of money, and carbon!
I agree this is almost certainly the fridge not being cool enough.
Probable cheaper to buy separert and all be good than bag with some in bin
Once again are you sure they are sell by dates? The FSA would appear to be correct that there is confusion between the various dates amongst the public.
They are sell by dates in the sense that the supermarket won't leave them on the shelf after the date has passed.
Seems all the more reason why such data shouldn't be given in a format that must be decoded.
Apologies - you're quite correct. Milk has a Use By date because exceeding this is considered a potential health risk. Meanwhile the thread subject is fruit & veg, which sometimes carries Best Before and Display Until dates and I believe these are non-binding for the retailer.
How do you know the greengrocer's produce is fresher (ie less time has passed between picking and buying)? Or do you think it just tastes fresher? Remember the taste sense can be affected by presentation style.
I'm a gardener! I know what vegetables are like when they are harvested.
Milk has the use by date embossed in the foil cap. It's a pig to read.
