nah. You can kill bacteria by cooking but you can’t kill the toxins they produce.
but yeah, if it smells okay, it’s gonna be okay to cook and eat.
How do you interpret "EXP" or expiry date on food?
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nah. You can kill bacteria by cooking but you can’t kill the toxins they produce.
but yeah, if it smells okay, it’s gonna be okay to cook and eat.
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On meat, follow the packaging or freeze it. Milk can do maybe 1 extra day if you seal it. Fruit and veg is usually good for another week after the date, as long as you can deal with some funky taste. Eggs are usually good for 2 weeks after their EXP as long as they are refrigerated.
For processed goods, just have a look at whats inside the package. Most of the use by dates for ready meals are just the exp of the shortest life ingredient, which is a notable underestimation.
Sauces last forever when refrigerated or unopened, dry pantry or tinned food lasts forever.
Fish is the only thing where I might not eat it even within EXP if I don't trust it.
For every non-food item, I assume it's good as long as it doesn't smell bad.
For processed goods, just have a look at whats inside the package. Most of the use by dates for ready meals are just the exp of the shortest life ingredient, which is a notable underestimation.
Sauces last forever when refrigerated or unopened, dry pantry or tinned food lasts forever.
Fish is the only thing where I might not eat it even within EXP if I don't trust it.
For every non-food item, I assume it's good as long as it doesn't smell bad.
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Expiry dates are printed to prevent food poisoning, typically on items such as meat/fish.
Best before is for when an item begins to spoil, but is otherwise safe to eat.
Why on earth anyone would risk messing with an expiry date is beyond me. If it's past expiry, in the bin, no exceptions. If it's past best before, then best judgement used as to ascertain if it's worth eating.
Best before is for when an item begins to spoil, but is otherwise safe to eat.
Why on earth anyone would risk messing with an expiry date is beyond me. If it's past expiry, in the bin, no exceptions. If it's past best before, then best judgement used as to ascertain if it's worth eating.
ok,
Some fact and science as I part own a business supplying food to UK retailers. This is very very complicated so I am trying to offer a simple, factual summary, experts can and will challenge below, but it is just intended as a general summary.
3 types of food to consider - Ambient, that stored in a cupboard. Chilled, that stored in a fridge at 0 to 5C, frozen, food stored in a freezer at >-18c.
The Expiry date, Use Buy date or Best before date has a different meaning and is determined differently for each.
Top line as follows -there are generally 3 considerations in assessing the 'date', 1. Does it remain safe to eat, 2. Does the quality remain acceptable 3. What does the law say (which can be non-sensical, but is the law). The 'date' is determined by when the quality declines, or the micro count increases.
So taking the one most discussed here, chilled or refrigerated foods there are 2 considerations in determining life, or the Use By date. 1. Microbiological safety. 2. Organoleptic quality. With chilled processed foods Use by really is use by, it may not kill you after this date, but you cant guarantee that and the quality of the food will likely deteoriate.
When we make foods we shelf life test them in development for both. for safety during life you need the bacterial count to remain below 10^2, or 10^3, depending on if it is ready to cook, or ready to eat. Ready to Cook foods should ideally be microbiologically sterile on leaving the factory, but are rendered consumer safe by cooking as per the supplied cook instructions, which are validated to achieve a 10^6 reduction in bacterial count. Ready to Eat foods are those items purchased and eaten cold straight from the packet, eg, a sandwich, so are made safe by the factory.
Cooking or sterilising foods does not render all foods safe, in particular those prone to the presence of Botulism (generally vegetable, fish and cold or processed meat). Botulism can be easily killed by heating the food to >70c for >2 mins (Center temperature), but botulism when living releases the most toxic poison known and this remains in the food after cooking - some people like to inject their faces with this. Botulism needs to be controlled by the manufacturer, not the consumer. The presence of this poison will kill.
Other bacteria, such as salmonella often found in Poultry do not do this and can be killed with thermal processing as above, hence the guide 'Don't eat pink chicken'. They can be controlled by the consumer, though the manufacturer has a duty of care to ensure that the food is safe to eat as produced, packaged, supplied and instructed to the consumer.
Taking frozen foods and ambient foods, these are generally more stable, provided they have been produced, packaged and stored correctly. The Best Before Date is usually just that, the food is less likely to become unsafe, but perhaps the quality of the item will deteoriate after this date, and perhaps it won't. It is determined by the packaging, and storage conditions in particular. For example, ambient sauces in a PET bottle will not last as long as the same stored in a glass bottle, and a sauce stored in a dark cupboard will often last longer than one stored in sunlight (UV).
The exception to ambient is obviously fresh produce and bakery, which I am not going to go into here...
Often the Expiry Date can be an arbitrary and legal number, because no one really knows how long the contents of the pack will last, tea and many cans are good examples of this, where the packaging is so good, or the product so stable that it could last many years without microbiological or organoleptic risk, however legally manufacturer are required to have an expiry date on the packaging, and so they do, 1 year, 18 months, 2 years etc. I am sure some companies do, but I don't know any producer who would put more than 2 years on a frozen or ambient product, though commercially the longer the better as it allows additional time to sell the item, and reduce food waste.
Ways to make food safe include thermal processing (cooking), managed water content or available water (crisps), PH <3.8 (sauces), High sugar content (sweets(sugar is a toxin)), high salt content. It is then maintained safe by good packaging, and food waste can be greatly reduced and life extended by packaging. contrary to common opinion, packaging is not bad, but badly designed packaging is bad.
Hope this helps some.
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Me and my family were quite on point with the dates originally. But we've been watching Ed Stafford marooned on catch up. If he can eat a dead rodent he finds in the water, we can take a chance on a day or two past a printed date. Just cook really well. Much more relaxed all of us. 
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I just sniff it tbh
Christmas puddings mature as they get older, my dad normally buys them a year in advance.Last year I found a ~10 year out of date Christmas pudding in the back of the cupboard (I think it's been moved around and pushed to to the back several times over). I ate it, tasted fine.
Agreed. Preservatives will mask bad tastes or smells to a degree and so your nose and tastebuds are not as reliable an indicator as many think.
one of my ex used to check expiry dates on everything even non food.... like ibuprofen, paracetamol etc...
come on... surely everyone has that stuff in the cupboard for years, it still works fine, dry yeast etc too even the little canned ones with the plastic lids last flipping years if stored right even after opening
people would probably throw salt out if it had an expiry date, I just checked mine doesn't
Really don't worry about Milk, it will easily tell you when not to use it by smell. I don't use a lot of milk and a carton can easily be a week past its date before its finished.
Same with chicken TBH. I completely ignore use by dates and just go off smell.
Pleased for you buddy. What about for out of date food, though
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I had a tin of choucroute in the cupboard which had been there for 4-5 years, tasted just like the new tin when I opened it last month, was completely fine despite being 2 years out of date.