Use By/Sell By/Best Before Dates

[RedAngie]

My grocery store is Food Lion and I bring stuff home from there all the time that's expired. I now check dates better. Though I have to put on my reading glasses to see the dates and sometimes don't want to bother. Anyway, I don't know why that grocery store is so bad about expiration. I really wish I had another option but have to drive like 25 minutes. I had a Kroger 15 minutes away but they just closed.

Food Lion always seemed to have a bad reputation for expired food. The one near me is kind of skeevy and I only go there when they have a good sale on non-perishables.

 

[RedAngie]

At my house, that fancy mustard you mention would be tucked alongside countless other "special" condiments that rarely get used but will probably never be thrown away. If I offer you bacon/onion/rhubarb chutney at my house when you visit, it's at your own peril!

As long as the chutney contains some 15 year old Chinese Five Spice Seasoning, I'm there.

 

[lovin'fl]

So I have 17 minute drives to a Lowes Foods or Harris Teeter the other direction. I like Harris Teeter. How is Lowes? More like Teeter or Food Lion? Sorry to hijack but I need a decent grocery. Want good produce.

 

[ronandannette]

As long as the chutney contains some 15 year old Chinese Five Spice Seasoning, I'm there.

Duh...what do you think I used it for in the first place? Star anise and clove is the perfect compliment to rhubarb.

 

[goofyernmost]

I am aware of the dates, but, I do not accept them as being the law. I've had milk 30 days past and it was fine. Anything that contains any degree of vinegar will keep forever. Mayonnaise that is refrigerated will also last a very long time with no difference in taste or quality. So many refrigerate mustard and ketchup when it can stay out in a closed container at room temperature almost forever.

Meats I try to use no more then a few days past the best by date, but, you can tell a lot by just smelling it. If it is bad you will know immediately. The ones that actually make me angry are the ones that jumped on the "best by" date thing just to increase sales. Item like soda, beer and any canned product that is sealed and unopened has been known to last years and years and years.

My daughter came over to my place one time and I offered her a diet Coke. The first thing she asked me is what is the date on it, because she knows that I don't drink diet Coke. It was at least a year past the date. I convinced her to try it and I poured it into a glass. She took one sip and decided it was stale. (whatever that means) So then I told her that I had just bought some recently so I would throw away the "old" one and replace it with a new one. Yes, I was being sneaky. I only had that one 12 pack from a year before, but, I opened one up, put it in a glass and told her that this one should be a lot better. She tried it and agreed. That whole dated soda and beer thing is a total scam. Things in a completely sealed can, with no oxygen present and especially with today's preservatives are perfectly fine to consume and if the manufacturer tells you different, they just want you to throw away perfectly good stuff and run out and buy more from them.

 

[lovin'fl]

I am aware of the dates, but, I do not accept them as being the law. I've had milk 30 days past and it was fine. Anything that contains any degree of vinegar will keep forever. Mayonnaise that is refrigerated will also last a very long time with no difference in taste or quality. So many refrigerate mustard and ketchup when it can stay out in a closed container at room temperature almost forever.

Meats I try to use no more then a few days past the best by date, but, you can tell a lot by just smelling it. If it is bad you will know immediately. The ones that actually make me angry are the ones that jumped on the "best by" date thing just to increase sales. Item like soda, beer and any canned product that is sealed and unopened has been known to last years and years and years.

My daughter came over to my place one time and I offered her a diet Coke. The first thing she asked me is what is the date on it, because she knows that I don't drink diet Coke. It was at least a year past the date. I convinced her to try it and I poured it into a glass. She took one sip and decided it was stale. (whatever that means) So then I told her that I had just bought some recently so I would throw away the "old" one and replace it with a new one. Yes, I was being sneaky. I only had that one 12 pack from a year before, but, I opened one up, put it in a glass and told her that this one should be a lot better. She tried it and agreed. That whole dated soda and beer thing is a total scam. Things in a completely sealed can, with no oxygen present and especially with today's preservatives are perfectly fine to consume and if the manufacturer tells you different, they just want you to throw away perfectly good stuff and run out and buy more from them.

I hate refridgerated ketchup. Also butter can be kept on counter and mayo is fine as long as you dont put knife in and use it on bread and then put it back in jar. And eggs...if you hard boil, the older expired ones peel better.

 

[low-key]

I usually check them, when I forget it seems like they get me

 

[ronandannette]

I hate refridgerated ketchup. Also butter can be kept on counter and mayo is fine as long as you dont put knife in and use it on bread and then put it back in jar. And eggs...if you hard boil, the older expired ones peel better.

Only for so long. It certainly will go rancid (especially in a hot climate) if not used fairly promptly and I've even seen it grow mold. We're a small household and mostly only use butter for cooking so while it's much less convenient, ours has to be kept in the fridge, or at least only taken out in small amounts. Butter here doesn't come pre-packaged in quarters the way I've seen it in the States. I though that was a neat idea.

 

[bcla]

No. Milk will last for at least a week passed the sell by date. That's how milk is sold. If the sell by date is July 31, they can sell it on July 31, and no one expects the milk to be "spoiled" on August 1.

Again - once it's opened, the sell by date is pretty much useless (I used "throw out the sell by date" figuratively - as in forget about it). If I see UHT milk such as the kind sold at room temperature, it will go bad in a week once opened - even if kept refrigerated. It's reliant on it being relatively sterile for that shelf life.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I go by smell/taste/look for everything and have yet to get food poisoning from my cooking. My daughter on the other hand is a freak when it comes to expiration dates. If it is anywhere near the expiration date, let alone past it, she won't touch it.

We had to watch my grandmother really close the last year of her life. She lost her sense of smell and taste and her eye sight wasn't all that great so she would try to serve people food that had obviously gone rancid.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Food Lion always seemed to have a bad reputation for expired food. The one near me is kind of skeevy and I only go there when they have a good sale on non-perishables.

They got caught bleaching meat and putting it back on the shelf after its date back in the 90s. They sued ABC and won. But they didn't sue for defamation nor did they dispute a single fact in the report. They sued for trespassing and fraud because ABC employees posed as workers. They won, but an appellate court reduced the award of over 5 million dollars to Two dollars. They never quite recovered from that. We used to have quite a few of them. We're now down to 1 and it hasn't really been updated.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Duh...what do you think I used it for in the first place? Star anise and clove is the perfect compliment to rhubarb.

I have the best recipe for rhubarb and it uses precisely those two things.

You will need.
1 bunch Rhubarb.
1 garbage can.
Star anise to taste
Cloves to taste

Throw rhubarb in the garbage can. Use your spices for something else.

End of recipe.

 

[karensi]

people get confused though

best by = this product is at its freshest before x date but it is still ok to use after this date

sell by = this product needs to be sold by x date so Mr Store keeper you need to remove it off the shelf and not sell it after this date

use by = this product must be used by x date, it may not be safe to eat after this date

I'm really strict about the dates. I check when I'm at the grocery store before buying and always recheck at home before using. If anything is at it's use by or best by date I throw it out.

Now, about the above post by BadPinkTink, how do you know when to throw out foods that only have "sell by" dates on them? I see many people posting that they go by smell and/or taste. That doesn't work for me. I want a date that I can see that will tell me when it's no longer considered good by the manufacturer. But those "sell by" dates confuse me. They might have to sell it by August 1, 2018 but how long is it considered edible?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Item like soda, beer and any canned product that is sealed and unopened has been known to last years and years.

Depends on the artificial sweeteners used. Some break down in 90 days or so.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I'm very strict about food safety. Milk must be consumed within 7 days of opening it because on day 8 I'm dumping it down the drain, regardless of what the sell by date is, and I'm obsessive about sell by/best by/expiration dates on products. Fresh foods with no preservatives like fruit juices, bread, or leftovers are pitched after 5 days.

 

[Disney_Alli]

It's so funny that I just read THIS article today... it seems relevant

 

[PollyannaMom]

Last week when they had the Goldfish cracker recall I checked the list of dates of which products were affected and they all had "use by"dates throughout 2018. I knew we had a package of Goldfish so I checked the expiration date: July 2016. No worries!

I somehow missed this whole story!

(But I just checked, and my Goldfish dates are OK as well.)

 

[goofyernmost]

Depends on the artificial sweeteners used. Some break down in 90 days or so.

Hey, it's up to you what you do. For every article you find that tells you something is bad, you can, if you try, find one that says just the opposite. In a sealed, sterile environment I really have never, in my 70 years, been able to verify that type of thought. What do they break down into?

I'm very strict about food safety. Milk must be consumed within 7 days of opening it because on day 8 I'm dumping it down the drain, regardless of what the sell by date is, and I'm obsessive about sell by/best by/expiration dates on products. Fresh foods with no preservatives like fruit juices, bread, or leftovers are pitched after 5 days.

Funny thing, I just saw a program the other day day that stated that even if milk has gone bad, it really isn't going to cause much of a problem other then to your taste buds. Many foods, milk being one of them, are very easy to know when they have altered their makeup and become something that isn't exactly what we would enjoy, but, we don't need numbers printed on the side of it to tell us when it has lost its charm. Fruit is the same. It doesn't take a scientist to know when they have passed their "best by" date which is why there is no date stamp on them. It is strictly by using our own senses that we can determine what is good or bad. Meat will immediately tell you when it is not going to be a fun experience to consume, however, things like salmonella are a threat because that is usually on fresh food, rotten foods have already been thrown out. Everyone needs to do what they want to do, but, with people worldwide starving, the fact that we so readily throw out perfectly good food because some supplier says it's past it's prime, seems like a less then desirable thing to do. To me the more recent trend of people to think it is cool to eat raw foods is much more threatening then the sniff, look and cook method.

 

[wenrob]

I'm very strict about food safety. Milk must be consumed within 7 days of opening it because on day 8 I'm dumping it down the drain, regardless of what the sell by date is, and I'm obsessive about sell by/best by/expiration dates on products. Fresh foods with no preservatives like fruit juices, bread, or leftovers are pitched after 5 days.

Your grocery bill must be astronomical. Asking with all sincerity, did something make you sick to make you so strict about it?

I’m agree with goofyernmost that a lot of these dates are an effort to get you to toss and buy more. I have never thought to check dates for things like soda, beer, condiments or most boxed/canned goods. I can’t ever recall checking the expiration on eggs. It never occurred to me. Like others have mentioned I use my senses when determining if something is good or not. How does it look? What does it smell like? The only thing I’m particularly strict on is shellfish. Not sure why but it’s the one thing I’m leery of. When I buy meat it all goes directly into the freezer and gets thawed and used on the same day. Dairy products get used until they “show” me they’re not good anymore. We don’t use a lot of bread so if a loaf has been roaming around the cabinet for 10 plus days I’ll toss it. Usually I just freeze it and we thaw what we’ll use.

My younger kids must have had some kind of class or film on dates in fourth or fifth grade. I noticed they would just stop eating certain snacks or foods that had been in the cupboard or freezer for awhile. When I asked what was up they claimed they were “old.” I then had to explain the difference between something maybe being stale vs. going bad. It took awhile but they finally got it. I suppose me refusing to buy “fresh” packaged snacks when there were snacks in the cabinet had something to do with it.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Your grocery bill must be astronomical. Asking with all sincerity, did something make you sick to make you so strict about it?

I’m agree with goofyernmost that a lot of these dates are an effort to get you to toss and buy more. I have never thought to check dates for things like soda, beer, condiments or most boxed/canned goods. I can’t ever recall checking the expiration on eggs. It never occurred to me. Like others have mentioned I use my senses when determining if something is good or not. How does it look? What does it smell like? The only thing I’m particularly strict on is shellfish. Not sure why but it’s the one thing I’m leery of. When I buy meat it all goes directly into the freezer and gets thawed and used on the same day. Dairy products get used until they “show” me they’re not good anymore. We don’t use a lot of bread so if a loaf has been roaming around the cabinet for 10 plus days I’ll toss it. Usually I just freeze it and we thaw what we’ll use.

My younger kids must have had some kind of class or film on dates in fourth or fifth grade. I noticed they would just stop eating certain snacks or foods that had been in the cupboard or freezer for awhile. When I asked what was up they claimed they were “old.” I then had to explain the difference between something maybe being stale vs. going bad. It took awhile but they finally got it. I suppose me refusing to buy “fresh” packaged snacks when there were snacks in the cabinet had something to do with it.

I used to get sick a lot. My mother is not real concerned about dates and we didn't even always have food in the house growing up, so usually my options were to eat the questionable leftovers or moldy bread or not eat at all. Once I moved out of my mothers house and took control of buying and preparing my own food, somehow I never got sick again (aside from my pregnancies). I do my best not to waste food, I purchase a lot of frozen fruit and vegetables, that way I can portion out exactly what we will eat, when I buy fresh it is with specific snacks and meals in mind.