Use By/Sell By/Best Before Dates

[RedAngie]

How closely do you pay attention to expiration codes on foods?

For milk, three or four days after "sell by" is fine. Eggs are still good for a week or more after the date. Packages of block/shredded cheese are often good for a few addition weeks. For fresh meat, however, I'll almost always use it (or freeze it) by the sell-by date.

I have some salad dressings and mayonnaise and other condiments that are more than a month out of code, but they're still perfectly edible. A jar of fancy mustard in the fridge is dated 9/17 but still tastes fine.

I go by the smell and appearance test ( and sometimes taste) rather than printed dates.

IMO too much food is unnecessarily wasted because of those dates.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I used to be a chef and worked for years in the catering industry. I go by smell and appearance for most things too.

raw chicken I am very careful with though, I never use after the date. Milk and fresh dairy cream I will do the sniff / taste taste but mostly always just dump it.

Jars of jelly and other condiments, a few days but any longer and I will dump.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I’m reminded of an old Married With Children episode where Peg was cooking 10-year-old Jiffypop.

Al: This expired in 1977!!!
Peg: No, see it says “best by” 1977.

 

[BadPinkTink]

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

 

[lovin'fl]

So this is a hot topic in my family. My 19 year old DDs are strict followers of the dates and, in fact, will stop using a couple days prior to the dates. My mom, in her house, is other extreme and has things that expired in 2015, unopened and some opened that expired like a year ago. She eats leftovers for like 10 days where I am a 'throw out on day 4' person. Meats kept in fridge, deli or raw, I use also by day 4. Things that are like vinegar based and whatnot...I see no issue with going past the date. DD just threw out a couple salad dressings that were likely perfectly good for a couple more months.

BUT.... I have noticed things last considerably shorter times than they used to. Salad dressings used to be good for like 18 months...now it's like 6. Milk even smells bad before the date now. Bread and cheese molds quicker. My mom says that the food product industry puts shorter dates now so that you need to buy more often and therefore they make more money. I also suspect some of it has to do with removing preservatives and the such. It's frustrating to throw out so much unused product. I wish they'd cut sizes in half.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I'll usually toss refrigerated stuff after the date, but cereals/chips/etc., I'll taste to see if it's stale.

 

[deedeezee]

I pay attention to dates, and am strict when it comes to meat/fish. I might fudge by a day or two for other refrigerated items (if it smells/appears fine) but otherwise go by the date. EXCEPT yogurt. For some reason, that never seems to go bad in my fridge. (I mean in terms of a week or two)

 

[RedAngie]

I’m reminded of an old Married With Children episode where Peg was cooking 10-year-old Jiffypop.

Al: This expired in 1977!!!
Peg: No, see it says “best by” 1977.

I don't remember that episode. If anything, I'll bet the Jiffy Pop itself is still good. But I'd be worried that the aluminum decayed and wouldn't expand.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I pay attention to dates when purchasing.

Once home, I use smell/look/taste

I try not to overbuy or stock up too much, so other than fresh produce which sometimes turns very quickly or milk if DH uses only part of a bottle before leaving on a business trip, it's rare that we have "past their prime" items

 

[usnuzuloose]

I pay close attention, I even look at the dates on the bottles at restaurants. After having to take all the safety food tests I pay close attn to the buffets as they dump fresh food on top of the old food which is a no-no. I guess I pay to close as it could drive people nuts. I look for myself and not say anything to other people.

 

[bcla]

I occasionally shop at a chain called Grocery Outlet. I remember as far back when it was called Canned Foods Grocery Outlet. However, one of the things they specialize in is buying older merchandise - mostly canned or otherwise packaged foods coming close to its sell by date. When I asked, I was told that something like cookies or crackers in a box should still be fine for at least a month past its sell by date. Some of the bargains they had are tremendous. I don't particularly worry about a box of Cheez-Its that is a week past the sell by date. Much of what they sell isn't normal merchandise, although I'm not sure how they manage to sell normal sliced bread for 99 cents for 20 oz. It's the same brands at supermarkets although the sell by dates are variable. Some are up to 2 weeks later, so they getting deliveries just like any other store.

 

[MamaLema]

I’m strict about meat

Yogurt/ milk we still consume for a week or more after date

Cereal/ crackers we can eat months after as long as there is no stale taste

 

[lovin'fl]

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.

 

[bcla]

Yogurt/ milk we still consume for a week or more after date

Any kind liquid/semi-liquid dairy product is going to spoil faster once it's exposed to air and microbes in the air. Pasteurization doesn't make milk sterile, but the sell by date is reliant on the container being sealed. It's also reliant to some degree on proper refrigeration.

An extreme example is shelf-stable, UHT pasteurized milk in aseptic packaging or even in regular cartons. The date may be months into the future, but once it's opened it will go bad within maybe a week and a half if it's refrigerated. The same goes for any kind of milk. You need to throw out the sell by date once it's opened.

 

[bcla]

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.

CVS had a problem with too many items on their shelves past a sell-by date in California. It wasn't specifically that it was illegal to sell it, but it was considered fraudulent because they didn't disclose it, nor have a policy about checking the shelves for these dates and tossing items.

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-relea...ovide-customers-2-coupon-if-they-find-expired

 

[mnrose]

I use the common sense approach. Meat....needs to generally be used or frozen by the date stated. Canned goods? I feel no qualms about using "expired" foods, within reason (not years, but months). And, always follow the "if it smells bad, toss rule." Yogurt? By it's nature, yogurt is a "spoiled" product...so it will last for weeks beyond the expiration date, no problem. Again, if it smells bad, toss it.

 

[mnrose]

Any kind liquid/semi-liquid dairy product is going to spoil faster once it's exposed to air and microbes in the air. Pasteurization doesn't make milk sterile, but the sell by date is reliant on the container being sealed. It's also reliant to some degree on proper refrigeration.

An extreme example is shelf-stable, UHT pasteurized milk in aseptic packaging or even in regular cartons. The date may be months into the future, but once it's opened it will go bad within maybe a week and a half if it's refrigerated. The same goes for any kind of milk. You need to throw out the sell by date once it's opened.

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.

 

[Floridaman999]

I'll do nothing past the date and more than likely will stop using most a couple days prior to it. I'm too anxious for my own good I guess.

 

[Micca]

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!

 

[ronandannette]

How closely do you pay attention to expiration codes on foods?

For milk, three or four days after "sell by" is fine. Eggs are still good for a week or more after the date. Packages of block/shredded cheese are often good for a few addition weeks. For fresh meat, however, I'll almost always use it (or freeze it) by the sell-by date.

I have some salad dressings and mayonnaise and other condiments that are more than a month out of code, but they're still perfectly edible. A jar of fancy mustard in the fridge is dated 9/17 but still tastes fine.

I go by the smell and appearance test ( and sometimes taste) rather than printed dates.

IMO too much food is unnecessarily wasted because of those dates.

For practically all fresh foods (meat, milk, dairy and produce) I use my own senses to determine whether or not it's still edible. As for eggs, I didn't even know they came with an expiry date. I've used some pretty old ones and never yet have cracked a rotten one. At any given time I'll have a half-dozen bottles of salad dressing on the go and we can't possibly use them all prior to expiry. I go through a couple times a year and throw out the old ones; again we've never gotten ill from using them (some do give themselves away when the oil begins to go rancid). 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!

...BUT.... I have noticed things last considerably shorter times than they used to. Salad dressings used to be good for like 18 months...now it's like 6. Milk even smells bad before the date now. Bread and cheese molds quicker. My mom says that the food product industry puts shorter dates now so that you need to buy more often and therefore they make more money. I also suspect some of it has to do with removing preservatives and the such. It's frustrating to throw out so much unused product. I wish they'd cut sizes in half.

So, so true!! I'd actually be thrilled to pay more for less and feel like I was getting good value if I wasn't throwing so much of it away.