need use by date explaining please

[crisgal]

I hope someone can sort an argument out between me and \\\'im indoors -

I bought a leg of lamb yesterday with a use by 3rd so I think that means cook it and eat it no later than 3rd.
My hubby says we can cook it on 3rd and eat the leftovers on 4th.

who\\\'s right??!



Please let it be me! x

[sara3]

my opinion? you're right, it should be eaten by the 3rd.

but I'd still eat the leftovers on the 4th ;o)

[~Wingnut~]

Hmm I would say it is ok to cook by the 3rd and then ok to eat for a couple of days after, sorry crisgal :o(

[crisgal]

i don't have to actually tell him though, do I? ;)

[sara3]

http://www.food.gov.u...uidance/usebydateguid

you ARE right!

[Buenchico]

If you were running a café, and trying to keep the health inspectors happy, you should cook and eat the meat by the 3rd.

However health inspectors work to extremely rigid rules, which fail to allow (for example) for differences in storage and cooking methods. Bacteria (even the 'nasty' ones) aren't directly hazardous to your health; it's their waste products that can be toxic. If you waited to until the 4th before cooking the meat, the bacteria would be multiplying (and producing toxic waste products) for a day beyond the (theoretical and probably over-cautious) 'safe' date, so there would be a possible (but slight) risk to your health. If you cook the meat on the 3rd, you'll destroy the bacteria, leaving only the toxic waste products that they'd produced up until then. While the meat is kept in a fridge (at below 4C) for an extra day there will be hardly any bacteria present, so the levels of toxins won't rise beyond the levels that they were at on the 3rd (as they would if the meat had remained uncooked).

'Use by' dates always err on the side of caution. As long as you got the meat home, and into a fridge at below 4C, quickly you can probably safely leave it uncooked until the 4th, and put the cold meat into your sandwiches for several days after that.

When I was a child there were no 'use by' dates and we didn't have a refrigerator. My mother would often keep meat cool in the larder for a couple of days after buying it, before cooking it. She'd then use the cold meat, for sandwiches, for nearly a week after that. Nobody ever got food poisoning.

My own fridge packed up a couple of years ago, and I've never bothered replacing it. I keep meat products (both cooked and uncooked) in a similar way to that used by my mother. I'm still alive!

Chris

[~Wingnut~]

I say print off Sara's link and rub it in his face lol ... then make him cook you a lovely roast lamb dinner :o)

[tamborine]

depends whether you've frozen it!

[karma22]

definitely cook it by 3rd - you could probs eat leftovers on 4th without it killing you

I'd prefer to cook and eat it before 3rd and at the very latest the 3rd though as its meat

[crisgal]

thanks all.
I'm going to admit defeat and go with chris's answer.
x

[tonyav]

I think your hubby is correct crisgal. bare in mind that the meat is then cooked.

[KARL]

You may feel this comes too late as a contribution, but here goes anyway. We regularly buy stuff on the last day of the sell by or use by, simply because not only does it save an awful lot of money to buy everything substantially reduced, but it is (at least in our experience) totally safe. The date deadline system was introduced partly as a result of some high profile cases of things going wrong and partly to satisfy the clamour for guarantees and the paranoia that attends all of that. For your information, although not as "advanced" as Chris, we freeze things on or after the relevant date and eat months and even years later - absolutely no ill effects whatsoever and we have the admiration of guests for our good food. If I could find access to the bins we would become "freegans" - the closest I came was finding a whole beef fillet out of date in Asda and since they would not sell it to me at any (reduced or not) price I asked to take it for free. No, I was told, it had to be thrown out - pure lunacy as far as I am concerned..

[filthiestfis]

Oh yeah and the leg of lamb goes off when the clock strikes 12 at midnight *rolls eyes*

[flip_flop]

When I was a student I worked part-time in a Safeway supermarket and I always remember my manager telling a customer that vacuum packed cheese can be safely eaten for weeks after its use by date.

As a result I often have cheese in the fridge that is a long long way past its use by date - months in some cases and I've never experienced a problem (plus, lets not forget, cheese is allowed to mature for years before being eaten, so I fail to see how a few months longer could make a difference).

So, I tend to consider use by dates as merely a guideline, not a cut-off.