Use By Dates - truthful or not ?

Pinkeyes

Pinkeyes

Pinkeyes

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Someone mentioned about food going off in another thread, and it reminded me of a theory I want to run by you.

I accept a lot of food goes off and you must replace it sooner rather than later, but I suspect a lot of food goes off a lot later than is specified on the jars / tins / etc

Take Pickles as an example - they are pickled (duh) - so surely they will last longer than the few months that is stated when you buy them.
Is just so you throw them away and buy a new jar... ??

How can they say for sure that in 8 months that food is completely inedible and must be discarded, but in 7 months 25 days, its perfectly fine to eat.

In the whole scale of this I know that it doesn't really matter, but I have always wondered if its done more for profits than for consumers...

Or am I completely mad ?
 
Use by dates are ultimately there to protect the food manufacturer from being sued. They are only a guideline as to the expected life of the food, but more than that they are the manufacturer saying "We say the food will be safe for this long, after that you're on your own"
 
It's all about covering their backs. Most food will be fine past the use-by date - if it looks, smells and tastes OK then chow on down. Properly refrigerated eggs can last a month past their use-by date, and I drank milk at university that stayed fresh a week beyond it too. Half my food came from over-zealous housemates that decided at one-minute-past-use-by they were going to discard it. 'Get in my belly' I say. :)
 
Husband eats 50-year-old chicken

A man celebrated his golden wedding anniversary by eating a 50-year-old tin of chicken.
Les and Beryl Lailey, of Denton, Gtr Manchester, were given the chicken in a hamper on their wedding day in 1956.

The Buxted Chicken tin remained in their kitchen cupboard until the couple marked 50 years together this month.

"We kept it safe, and I always said 'on my 50th wedding anniversary I'm going to eat that chicken' - so I did," said former soldier, Mr Lailey, aged 73.

"When we got married I'd just come out of the Army and we had very little money, so we did our own buffet.

"We got a hamper as a present and included in it was this whole chicken in a tin. We didn't use it and packed it away and kept it."

Tight vacuum

Mr Lailey, a former soldier, said he had not felt ill since eating the chicken.


The couple were given the chicken on their wedding day

The pair met at an Irish pub in Hulme, Manchester.

"I had to go back to the Army almost straight after we met, but we kept in touch by writing letters. I came home and we got married," Mr Lailey added.

Prof Eunice Taylor, a food safety expert at the University of Salford, said: "Canned food can last indefinitely if it has been sealed properly, although the normal shelf life is about six months.

"If it's done at high temperatures and under high pressure, then the process should create a tight vacuum.

"If anyone is going to eat old canned food, I would suggest they heat it thoroughly first of all, just in case to be extra
Click to expand...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4693520.stm

MB
 
Meh, it's the same for all arbitrary values. Why is it ok to buy alcohol when you're 18 but not the day before? Why can I learn to drive when I'm 17 but not just before? In the end if you have to impose such a limit then you need to find a safe value with a suitable margin of error and apply that. There are always exceptions to these rules, but for legislative reasons it's just not appropriate or workable any other way.

That probably doesn't answer your question but I'm at work and half asleep.
 
I agree with you in the "cover themselves" department.
Short term fresh food, dairy products etc - I normally follow the guidelines.

Condiments like Mint Sauce, Pickles, mustards, ketchup - I think they just make some very rough date up so you buy new ones before you need to...
 
A lot will depend on how the food was prepared and handled for hygeine. If your hands have bacteria on them when you rummage around in the fridge then that will be transfered to cooked meats , containers and so on.

When getting things out of jars, use a fork or spoon rather than tease the pickled onion out with a finger.
 
I'm currently having the kitchen ceiling replaced so the cabinets all had to come down. I threw away about 95% of what was in them - gravy granules, flour, spices, dried herbs, suet, yeast, you name it. Most of the dates were around 2001-2002, but there were spice jars with prices like 32p on them, one being from 1996. Cumin I think. I kept that one.
 
Belmit said:
I'm currently having the kitchen ceiling replaced so the cabinets all had to come down. I threw away about 95% of what was in them - gravy granules, flour, spices, dried herbs, suet, yeast, you name it. Most of the dates were around 2001-2002, but there were spice jars with prices like 32p on them, one being from 1996. Cumin I think. I kept that one.
Click to expand...

Should be fine, ground coriander is the worst , only stays fresh for a short time before it looses its potency.
 
I always wondered why jam has the lable, 'keep refridgerated when opened, use within 6 weeks', when jam has been used as a preserve for a lot longer than fridges have been around.

I've left it in my cupboard after its been opened for ages and its never gone off.
 
It's all down to how much bacteria you are prepared to eat really. Dry and tinned are pretty safe as they don't have the right conditions for bacteria to reproduce.
There are 3 main groups of bacteria, (not including the super bacteria that live at very wide temperature ranges)

Psychrophiles, these will live at 3 - 20oC as soon as you consume these they will die as you are too hot for them to live.

Mesophiles, these live at 10 - 45oC, cooking will kill these bacteria, but for ready to eat foods you take your choice!

Thermophiles, these live at 45 - 65oC, Only cooking thourougly will kill these.

Having tested many foods with the reduced stickers on, I personally never let my family eat these items anymore. Yes the majority of bacteria are harmless to us, I just prefer not to risk it.
 
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