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Use within ...........days

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
in The potting shed
What happens a day after? If  a product can last two weeks, why not three?
I speak as a person with a pretty sensitive digestive system but would be interested in the science
In London. Keen but lazy.
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Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I pretty much ignore sell by / use by dates. 
    If something is " use before " today. If it's edible at 11.59 pm. why isn't it edible at 00.05 tomorrow?
    Devon.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I met someone on holiday who worked for a company making biscuits for M&S. 
    They had a best before date of 6 months later. Years down the line M&S said " make it 3 months ".
    No reason, no science, nothing. 
    IMHO it's a marketing gimmick to make gullible consumers throw stuff in the bin, and buy more
    Devon.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Biscuits, I trust my instincts  but stuff in jars , maybe things happen😳
    That's how they get you. Maybe they make allowances for people using mucky spoons to get stuff out. But maybe things happen. Maybe once you open the jar, it becomes a petri dish of pestilence😱
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • rowlandscastle444rowlandscastle444 Posts: 2,612
    Look at it, smell it, even taste a little. If it seems okay, it probably is. .

    If my homemade jams can last 6 years, with more fruit and less sugar than shop jam, then those with preservatives will last longer.

    Best to look, smell, taste.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Last week I had pasta which had been in the freezer for years , with a jar of pasta sauce, 18 months out of date.
    I also had chicken thighs, also in the freezer for years, with a jar of curry sauce, 2 years out of date.  
    I'm still here to tell the tale .
    I once ate a yogurt 64 days after the use by date.
    Devon.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Sometimes it's because the producers feel that some of the ingredients will only taste at their best for x period of time. After that time the flavour starts to deteriorate, but it's still perfectly safe to eat.
    I have many jars of Asian 'stuff' that have been in the cupboard/fridge for years, some opened.
    If it looks and smells OK I'll use it up to about a couple of years past the date depending on what it is.
    Some pre-ground spices loose their flavour quite quickly

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • rowlandscastle444rowlandscastle444 Posts: 2,612
    edited February 2023
    My wife still has some foods that came from her parents house. One died in 2002, and the other moved out straight after. The foods were well passed their "best before" date even then!!
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    One wonders how folk survived before these dates were introduced in the 70s
    Devon.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I don't understand why there are sell by dates for pickles. Vinegar is used as a method of keeping food safe to eat for a long time.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Best Before and Use By have very different meanings. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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