Out of date Marmite

[boxtops]

Is out of date Marmite risky? There are some things I won't eat too far beyond their sell-by date, but other things still seem fine. However I have just spread some Marmite on bread for a snack and see that the sell-by date on the jar is July 08. I'm still alive but wonder what other people do - it seems a shame to throw away half a jar of the stuff if it's still good.

[Postdog]

sorry, can't say, but come on, Marmite! - you won't be the only one with it stuck in a cupboard.

[ummmm]

I wouldn't touch the stuff but I think it's psychological with me. Everyone else in this house would eat anything that smelt ok....I just can't do it. Illogical as I know it should be fine.

[ethandron]

i'm still ploughing my way through a huge tub of the stuff i bought in costco, with a use by date of january 09, and to be honest, if the date was july 08 i'd still eat it provided it didn't have mould on it. i'm sure it's fine to eat.

[boxtops]

Thanks all - yup, it's a love it or loathe it item - I think I'll carry on working my way down the jar!

[heathfield]

We used to eat peanut butter and Marmite long before 'Best Before' dates were ever thought of. I know some of them will have been up to two years old, and they never did us any harm.

[benny3008]

ahhh all this talk of marmite and peanut butter has made me hungry, peanut butter is my favourite!!! its best on toast.

[Clanad]

One question... how would you know if it's "gone-off"?

Be of good cheer... you could always use it for fertilizing the garden!

[B00]

Haha Clanad, whenever I see a thread about Marmite I think of you. That post of yours about it was hysterical. Whatever did you do with your jar of the stuff?

[ChuckFickens]

Ritual execution I would imagine (I agree, Clanads post about marmite was one of the funniest i've ever seen on here)

[heathfield]

Aaah, Clanad - Your trial with Marmite may have gone wrong because you were a bit generous with the portion you used...it's best if you spread it microscopically thinly. Its other use is in adding a teaspoonful or so to soups or stews where it works like a vegetable stock.

[Clanad]

Unfortunately, heathfield, the ability to spread the vile stuff thin enough to non-detectable is beyond my physical abilities...

Kept the jar around for a while... hermetically sealed in several layers of plastic bags, for whatever reason, I can't remember. I finally threw it in the garbage bin, but it threw it back... tried to sneak it into the recycle center... got arrested for contaminating the nuclear refuse site. Tried giving it to the pig farmer down the road... killed three pigs and two that were formerly pink turned a disgusting shade of brown and had a terrible odor. I finally threw the remainder in the river, which runs into Hudson's Bay some 1,000 miles distant. I suppose you've heard about the die off of the Polar Bears near there. The environmentalists tried to convince everyone it was due to "Climate Change"... sure... sure... shows how smart they are. (At least now it's Canada's problem).

[B00]

rofl Clanad, I think I love you.

Post of the week is that one ;-)

[caslass]

Has anyone got a link to clanad's original post please.

[boxtops]

What about my Marmite then?! my kitchen cupboard is very far away from Hudson's Bay!

[theprof]

It's perfectly OK to eat. The salt content of marmite is so high that the majority of moulds and bacteria find it very difficult to survive let alone grow. The salt content of marmite causes the cells to burst. It is this very process that the manufacturers rely upon to make the stuff from yeast.

We sometimes use marmite enriched agar growth mediums in the university laboratories to inhibit or destroy the growth of bacteria or fungal colonies in petri dishes.

You can safely ignore the sell-by or use-by dates on marmite. They are just there as a legal requirement.

[boxtops]

Thanks prof - sounds a bit gruesome, but it's still yummy stuff - you have convinced me to keep what's left in the jar!