Use by dates - how brave are you?

[plowter]

How many days (or weeks) after the use by date do you feel brave enough to eat fresh food?

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

If it looks ok and smells ok I eat it.

[baza]

if it smells off dont eat it, otherwise a couple of days

[ummmm]

Depends what it is. Seafood I will eat on the use by or cook it for the cat. Meat,1 or 2 days.

[hc4361]

Look, smell, touch. That's what I rely on, not use by dates.

[ummmm]

The good thing about using a butchers is you don't get used by dates.

[vodkancoke]

If I haven't eaten it by the day before the use-by date, I'm afraid it gets thrown out. It doesn't happen often in my house because I tend to do a lot of batch-cooking and I don't over-buy. I live on my own and I find buying for one difficult, but that's where the freezer comes in handy!

[Old_Geezer]

If I feel ill afterwards I ought not have had it.

[EcclesCake]

Does it smell unpleasant? Is it wearing a fur coat? And if it's cheese I ignore the smell and trim of the furry bits.

Well that's my rule for home cooking, when cooking for clients I take a more robust approach.

[chrissa1]

If it smells and looks ok, I will eat it. I think it's mainly another way the supermarkets have of getting our cash.

[vodkancoke]

Eccles I think that's where my habit has come from. I am so paranoid when it comes to cooking and baking for customers, I apply it to myself too! lol

[ummmm]

Or a way for the supermarkets to avoid being sued.

[chrissa1]

That too ummmmm.

[tamaris]

What do you mean by fresh food ?

[furrypusscat]

Not too many years ago, there were no such things as sell by and use by dates. If it looks and smells alright, I use and have never been ill through food poisoning.

[plowter]

Fresh food - meat, cheese, fish.
Processed food - ready meals, etc.

If it's fresh meat, a couple of days.
If it's got preservatives - like sausages - a week or more.
Otherwise what's the point of preservatives?

[weecalf]

Ate beans with 57 on labei 1957?

[ummmm]

I would prefer the supermarkets used sell by dates. If they didn't we wouldn't know how long the food had been on their shelves.

[friedgreentomato]

Depends on the food and then I smell touch and rinse

[woofgang]

meat....if it smells okay I will use it.
veg and fruit....if it isnt rotting I will use it apart from green spuds which are poisonous.

[NOX]

If it looks and smells okay then I deem it to be fine, I don't think I've ever actually bothered to especially look at the date on anything, I rely solely on how it looks, feels and smells, and I tend not to get food poisoning:)