Do you throw away food after its 'Best Before Date'?

[Justfoodandlife]

Do you think it's safe to eat food after the 'Best Before Date' on the package? I usually keep dry goods like flour for another 6 months to 1 year and wet foods such as BBQ sauce for a few months to reduce food waste. Any thoughts?

 

[Barriehie]

I don't throw it out until it's being processed by another organism, or just tastes terrible.

 

[TastyReuben]

Yeah, I keep it. Here, “best by…” just means that’s when it’s at its peak quality, not that it’s gone off, so it’s fine.

 

[Barriehie]

 

[JAS_OH1]

Yes, and some refrigerated good as well.

More on this subject here:
Sell By Dates - Would You Use It?

How much notice do you take of 'best before' dates?

 

[rascal]

Milk here is good for a couple of days. I know the signs when it's going off. Bread I pretty much biff it on use by.
One bakery is really good and you can trust it for an extra 3 to 4 days it's that good.
Couplands I'd a very good bakery reknown for good ingredients.

Russ

 

[CookieMonster]

Milk here is good for a couple of days. I know the signs when it's going off. Bread I pretty much biff it on use by.
One bakery is really good and you can trust it for an extra 3 to 4 days it's that good.
Couplands I'd a very good bakery reknown for good ingredients.

Russ

souring milk is not really hard to recognize. even with just two in an empty nest, it's been years since a quart size milk has 'gone bad'

bread is a different issue.
I bake several recipes from 'no knead' to 'classic' - white/rye/wheat - in loaves, rounds and 'dinner roll' formats.
home made / local artisan bread do go stale in a 2-3 days - due to the absence of the chem lab preservatives and additives.
"stale" is not all bad - perhaps not so good for a sandwich - but utterly excellent for french toast, various layered casseroles....
or a hot 'open face' sandwich.

the commercial stuff methinks never goes 'stale.' once in a great while of unusual circumstances I see a commercial loaf grow green stuff.

 

[rascal]

souring milk is not really hard to recognize. even with just two in an empty nest, it's been years since a quart size milk has 'gone bad'

bread is a different issue.
I bake several recipes from 'no knead' to 'classic' - white/rye/wheat - in loaves, rounds and 'dinner roll' formats.
home made / local artisan bread do go stale in a 2-3 days - due to the absence of the chem lab preservatives and additives.
"stale" is not all bad - perhaps not so good for a sandwich - but utterly excellent for french toast, various layered casseroles....
or a hot 'open face' sandwich.

the commercial stuff methinks never goes 'stale.' once in a great while of unusual circumstances I see a commercial loaf grow green stuff.

We buy 500ml bottle of milk just the 2 of us. I make cups of tea in the morning. When putting milk in you get slightly lumps in milk it's off. But it's good for that day.

Russ

 

[badjak]

I stopped drinking milk as I had too much going off before the date and I hate long life milk.
I don't take milk in coffee or tea, so no issue there, but I do love a glass of cold milk.
I now eat yoghurt instead

I don't care that much about expiry dates in general.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Best before dates are just guidelines on how long you can expect an item to remain at it’s best so I don’t throw those things away until they look, smell or taste odd.

I despise the new government guidelines removing best before dates though, all that’s happened is the supermarkets have used it to extend the shelf time on the products and sometimes the produce turns up looking way, way past it’s best.
The idea was to reduce food waste but since they removed the dates on fresh fruit n veg I’ve had to throw away more than I ever did before because it can arrive looking absolutely done in!

 

[msmofet]

Best buy dates are for greedy companies that want you to get scared and throw stuff away even if it's still good and buy new. JMHO

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I don't take the slightest notice of them at all.

 

[karadekoolaid]

I don't take much notice of them, to be honest, unless it's meat, chicken or fish. However, we don't freeze meat, chicken or fish; we use it straight away. Vegetables are bought directly from the shelves - there are very few pre-packaged vegetables on sale over here. Buying direct from the shelves means I can ensure I'm buying the freshest produce, and can check for blemishes or bruises.
As for packaged products, it's a question of checking for smell (you can detect mould or fermentation, for example), for weevils or moths, or sometimes (especially in the case of spices) just the colour. Brown, dull paprika, for example, will probably not add much to your dish.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I don't take much notice of them, to be honest, unless it's meat, chicken or fish. However, we don't freeze meat, chicken or fish; we use it straight away. Vegetables are bought directly from the shelves - there are very few pre-packaged vegetables on sale over here. Buying direct from the shelves means I can ensure I'm buying the freshest produce, and can check for blemishes or bruises.
As for packaged products, it's a question of checking for smell (you can detect mould or fermentation, for example), for weevils or moths, or sometimes (especially in the case of spices) just the colour. Brown, dull paprika, for example, will probably not add much to your dish.

In the UK meat, chicken n fish come with 'Use by' dates and that is a different ball game, it's an instruction to use it by that date or risk food poisoning. Not a recommendation like best before dates.

Use by dates are about food safety where as best before dates are about peak quality.

I too almost alway abide by use by dates on meat and fish. Occasionally I'll go a day past with meat if I know it's been stored in the super cold bit of the fridge and it smells alright.
If the boys are home practicing their 'gawp in the fridge' with a blank stare thing on repeat perhaps it'll just go in the bin

Sometimes I will make something for lunch and 'Kings taster' it - ie I'll eat some 2-4 hours before everyone else and see if anything happens

 

[badjak]

I don't care much about the use by date either.
These are based on statistics where 95% or 99% is still fine (depending on country rules)
It's a bell curve
So it means only 5% (or 1%) is no longer fine
I got eyes and a nose, so I'll check and adjust cooking style accordingly.
(Well done or stew instead of rare in case of steak)