Use by vs. Sell by

[my3sonsagn]

"Use by" dates are pretty easy: use it by that date or don't use it at all. "Sell by" dates OTOH drive me crazy - I never know when they have to be discarded. Case in point: there are boneless/skinless chicken breasts in my fridge (thought I put them in the freezer... I thought wrong) that have "Sell by May 10th." Today is the 12th... are they okay to use or should I toss them? What would y'all do?

 

[mamacatnv]

They should be fine, I'd give them the old smell test.

I am not a follower of the date codes.
If it said "dead if consumed after X" I might be. Otherwise if it smells okay, looks ok, is not lumpy or slimy when it should not be I don't worry about it and I serve/eat it.

 

[shirleyb]

They should be fine if stored properly.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

I am not a follower of the date codes.
If it said "dead if consumed after X" I might be.

 

[scrapquitler]

"Use by" dates are pretty easy: use it by that date or don't use it at all. "Sell by" dates OTOH drive me crazy - I never know when they have to be discarded. Case in point: there are boneless/skinless chicken breasts in my fridge (thought I put them in the freezer... I thought wrong) that have "Sell by May 10th." Today is the 12th... are they okay to use or should I toss them? What would y'all do?

They are fine to use today.

Here is a fact sheet from the USDA about the date thing: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Food_Product_Dating/index.asp#5

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

They should be fine, I'd give them the old smell test.

I am not a follower of the date codes.
If it said "dead if consumed after X" I might be. Otherwise if it smells okay, looks ok, is not lumpy or slimy when it should not be I don't worry about it and I serve/eat it.

I wish I could do this....really I do. Unfortunately, my imagination gets the best of me! I've tried the sniff test and I always manage to convince myself that it smells like roadkill. DH will insist that it's fine but I just can't get past it. Ofcourse, this is the same DH that will drink milk at 11:30 pm on the day before the milk expires but poor it down the drain at 12:01.

 

[mamacatnv]

I wish I could do this....really I do. Unfortunately, my imagination gets the best of me! I've tried the sniff test and I always manage to convince myself that it smells like roadkill. DH will insist that it's fine but I just can't get past it. Ofcourse, this is the same DH that will drink milk at 11:30 pm on the day before the milk expires but poor it down the drain at 12:01.

My neighbor who is a slave to the dates will no longer ask to borrow anything perishable She came over once for eggs, I pulled out the carton, she saw the date and said "oh my, ummm, never mind" I just laughed.
She is the type that will throw away a cake mix that has "expired" and I will use that same cake mix a year later for a school bake sale

 

[Minnesota!]

Well I just had some General Foods International coffee b/c I was craving it...it says "best when used by June 26, 2009". Eh, it wasn't opened yet and I REALLY wanted it.

Let you know tomorrow how that all went

 

[Trish Bessette]

My neighbor who is a slave to the dates will no longer ask to borrow anything perishable She came over once for eggs, I pulled out the carton, she saw the date and said "oh my, ummm, never mind" I just laughed.
She is the type that will throw away a cake mix that has "expired" and I will use that same cake mix a year later for a school bake sale :laughing:

I bolded one sentence you wrote - I thought I recall people dying from cake that was made with expired cake mix. NOt one instance but several from people who used expired mixes. I would be careful about that....especially brininging it to a school bake sale

 

[mamacatnv]

I bolded one sentence you wrote - I thought I recall people dying from cake that was made with expired cake mix. NOt one instance but several from people who used expired mixes. I would be careful about that....especially brininging it to a school bake sale

Really? You serious? How on earth can a bunch of dry ingredients be deadly......oh please, I am hoping you being fecious

 

[mamacatnv]

Check out snopes - its an urban myth - its a mold spore issue and use by dates have no bearing

 

[SandrA9810]

It contains dry milk ingredients and those can cause certain bacteria/mold to grow. It's not common, but it can happen. As for the deaths, I don't know.

I'm not a big date person either. I'll do the sniff test if it's a day or two past the milk date. It's expensive, and I don't use it very often, just for cereal and mashed potatoes mostly.

 

[MickeySP]

I KNOW THIS!! I KNOW THIS ONE!!!

My DBF woks in warehousing for a large food product distributor. The sell by date is regulated to make sure that product makes it to the stores timely. Usually 10 -14 days before the sell by date. Once a product passes this threshhold it must be dicarded - HOWEVER - it is still good to use.

You would not believe the amount of product they have to trash because of "sell by" dates. It is obscene Unfortunately they won't donate because they were sued by 1 recipient at a shelter and had to pay thousands to litigate it (they won, this guy sued everyone to make a living hoping to settle with cash) So they will no longer donate but throw out pounds & pounds of meats, cases of milk, yogurt etc.. that shelters could use.

 

[marlynnp]

the only risk you run by using a cake mix past the expiration date is that it may not rise as it should

 

[lovesmurfs]

This website's got great info on shelf-life: www.stilltasty.com

 

[Trish Bessette]

Really? You serious? How on earth can a bunch of dry ingredients be deadly......oh please, I am hoping you being fecious

I'm sorry!! I read about this here on the DIS so that is what I get for believing things here

 

[PatsMom]

My mom volunteers in a food pantry. I bring her all of my stuff that is past the "sell by" date because my husband will refuse to eat it. They have a chart of how far past the date stuff can be and still be acceptable. I know for salad dressing it is one year because I just sent some to her. I would have used it but my husband would accuse me of trying to poison him!

We also have an ongoing argument about bread. He tosses his loaf (yucky white bread) on the date. I will eat my healthy whole grain stuff as long as it is not hard or moldy. And if it is only a little hard, it still makes great toast. Once I see mold though it is history.

 

[mamacatnv]

My mom volunteers in a food pantry. I bring her all of my stuff that is past the "sell by" date because my husband will refuse to eat it. They have a chart of how far past the date stuff can be and still be acceptable. I know for salad dressing it is one year because I just sent some to her. I would have used it but my husband would accuse me of trying to poison him!

We also have an ongoing argument about bread. He tosses his loaf (yucky white bread) on the date. I will eat my healthy whole grain stuff as long as it is not hard or moldy. And if it is only a little hard, it still makes great toast. Once I see mold though it is history.

Mold's a deal breaker for me too along with slimy or smelly otherwise, it doesn't worry me at all. I do remember when I was a kid and my dad would cut the mold off the cheese - I know that is not necessarily bad but even I the self professed date ignorer will toss moldy cheese