View Full Version : How far past use by date do you use foods?
I had some milk earlier that was 1.5 days past its useby date and ive been panicking earlier.
How far to do go past the use by date on different items including milk?
I can’t imagine there are any hard and fast rules on this as there are too many variables. What did we do before use by dates on food stuff? We used our common sense, our sense of smell, taste and vision and I still pretty much apply that now.
I was once told by someone in the know that supermarkets work on roughly a two day safety net.
Anxious_gal
17-01-11, 18:44
well if it looks ok the it's grand :-)
how much did you drink?
you will be absolutely fine, if there was anything wrong with it, you wouldn't of even got as far as drinking it cause it would have smelt foul...
yvonne_uk_98
17-01-11, 18:52
all depends on what it is.
long life milk can last upto 6 months. as long as you turn thecarton upside down, each month. you take note ofthe date then add about 6 months. some stuff you have to use right away. all depends on what it is. tin food can last upto 6 months, turn the tinn upside down each month.
really all depends on what it is.
countrygirl
17-01-11, 19:00
Most people dont understand what the tems mean - Use by and best before.
Best before means that after that date the product will still be perfectly safe eat/drink but its quality as in texture etc may change.
Use by is the one that is the most important as its desinged to stop you getting food poisoning. With milk your nose unless you have barely any sense of smell should tell you and gone off milk does not necessarily cause illness but it can and I have known people who have been very ill who have drunk gone off milk ( the person had no sense of smell due to sinus trouble). If it is something like a pork pie then only the stupid would eat that past its use by date!
The Govt is talking about abolishing best before dates to stop us wasting food as for example a bottle of diet coke that is 6 months past its best before date won't harm you but may be less fizzy.
If the milk didn't smell or taste off and you dont have a total loss of smell or taste then you will be fine but as with most things use your common sense - if you find a packet of cooked meat from supermarket thats a week over is use by date then your playing russian roulette if you eat it:D
It smelt ok and no more sour ish that milk normally is when i use it. There were no lumps, no odd colour in it and I had some in a cup of tea.
Your fine :D
i for one am always checking the use by date before i have anything lol.
Anxious_gal
17-01-11, 19:51
It smelt ok and no more sour ish that milk normally is when i use it. There were no lumps, no odd colour in it and I had some in a cup of tea.
honestly its ok then, wen my milk is gone off it always has lumps in it and ive accidently drank before in my tea and i was ok. :)
Milk's usually fine a good few days - maybe up to a week past its use-by date Piers. Meat? I put it in the bin if it's even a day past.
My boss is always having slightly off milk in her tea at work. She always seems to be ok. You'd have known the second you went to pour it if it was bad.
Personally, I use certain foods past the sell by date, but not others. Never fish for example. But bread is ok for toasting if it's a couple of days out, so my dad always says (and he's pretty OCD about this stuff)!
Dahlia
Anxious_gal
18-01-11, 01:53
breads actually safe to eat even when green, I saw it on a t.v show thing lol
also they said dried packet foods can be ok to eat even 10 years later!
shaggyowen
18-01-11, 02:29
untill it smells tastes or looks funny lol, apart from meats there no trying them there just straight in the bin when theyv gone bad
use by dates mean just that use bythat date,usually meat,fish and dairy all high risk foods .best before dates just mean the makers guarantee the food to be fresh and in its best condition on or before that date so on best before use your own judgement if it looks,smells and tastes ok it is just maybe not as fresh as possible but still perfectly good.i do loads of food hygiene courses for work and they all tell yu the same do not use after a use by date has expired,that said i have used out of date milk when i ve been gagging for a brew and i m still here lol
breads actually safe to eat even when green, I saw it on a t.v show thing lol
also they said dried packet foods can be ok to eat even 10 years later!
I discovered this too, Mishel, through experience. My boss made us toast and hummus one day, and we commented how it tasted a little 'odd'. So I went to look in her kitchen at the 'raw ingredients'. The bread had blue mould all over it and the hummus had gone out of date several days earlier. I worried all day, but wasn't ill.
miss_moose
18-01-11, 11:03
Use by dates worry me aswell, i'm terrible with milk because to me, it always smells "off".
I'm having the same thing this morning with Crumpets, I fancy eating some for breaskfast but it says use by 18th, which is today.
So im not sure whether to risk it or not.
Yeah - I would say the crumpets would be absolutely fine - I take that to mean use by the end of that day and it's never caused me any problems. I wouldn't think twice about having them :)
Dahlia
A use by date mens use by 23:59 that day, I checked that out a while ago.
I’m mean, plus I hate wasting food, so I must admit to sometimes eating food past its sell by date. How can they make a product be perfectly safe just before midnight then riddled with deadly bacteria 30 seconds later? :shrug:
There’s got to be some tolerance for safety.
Suppose it’s a question of common sense and proper storage, plus proper cooking. I’d be wary of raw meat/fish, but rarely have those. Ready meals I would take a chance on for a couple of days providing they’re kept refrigerated. Milk is obvious by the awful smell and the floaters in the tea, and if it needs to be coaxed out of the bottle with a spoon, it’s probably past it’s best :ohmy:
Bread and cakes usually get horribly dry long before they go off. Fresh fruit/veg often last well past their sell by date, and it’s obvious when they start to go off. Things with a long date – cans, cereals, etc – should be OK for a longer period after their sell by date because how can they determine that a product is good for 6-12 months then instantly go off?
And one last rule of thumb...
If you open the fridge and something winks at you, it’s safe to assume it’s past it’s best :eek:
Nigel
A use by date mens use by 23:59 that day, I checked that out a while ago.
That made me chuckle - I've often pondered this: eg. if I forgot to cook the bacon for dinner the evening before, is it really that dangerous to have it for breakfast instead - only a matter of a few hours later, when its been in the fridge. My husband thinks I'm too fussy & says, "It's not Cinderella Food!" ('goes off at midnight'!) All the same, I prefer to err on the side of caution.
Saying that, my 6 year old son ate a yoghurt a few months ago that I later found out was over 2 weeks out of date. I was stressing about it for ages, but time passed and he was absolutely fine. Phew! :blush:
westofengland
18-01-11, 23:02
Umm do you think the human race would have survived this long if people were so easily killed off? Imagine yourself on the plain, being hunted by woolly mammoths 10,000 years ago and it kind of puts the milk problem into perspective :)
harasgenster
18-01-11, 23:55
I'm ALWAYS worried about this sort of thing. I'm not as bad as I was, checking every bit of cooked meat to check if it was DEFINITELY cooked, then I'd just not touch it if I was in any doubt at all....
Milk is totally fine, even when it's got floaters in it. It won't actually do you any harm but if you drink gone off milk you might get sick because of the smell! You'd definitely know if milk was off.
Bread is also fine even when it's covered in mould. Won't do you any harm but does taste manky.
Fresh orange juice, I found out yesterday when I panicked about this, is fine unless it's fizzy or smells/tastes really bad.
Basically, the only thing you need worry about is very old salad - i.e. if the lettuce is mushy and brown DON'T EAT IT! Fish - that goes off very quickly, don't eat it if it smells overly fishy. Meat - this generally lasts longer than it's use-by date but I always use it before then to be safe.
Use by dates are arbitrary - in many cases they are set in place to sell more food, and not to protect you in any way.
You are armed with a full battery of senses which can be used to test whether a product is ok or not. Your stomach and digestive system is also surprisingly resilient.
Don't waste any more time agonising over it.
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