Opinion: Use by dates (best before)

[UpoqvoSAMMIovpoqU]

Are the use by dates on consumables accurate?

Do people know that it is safe to eat (or use) on the use by date or only before the use by date?

Is bread for example supposed to produce mould a day after the use by date and is dangerous to eat?

Have you ever become ill from eating something which is out of date, or more interestingly something which was in date?

Do we waste an unbelievable amount of food due to inaccurate use by dates and do you think that the government should spend money on revising and extending use by dates?

Sammi

[blackbetty86]

It's there for a reason, there's no way I'm eating something that's about to expire, even if it's a couple of days away from such... I'd rather throw it away.

[Officer]

I do the taste test. If it tastes off, I'll still eat it. If it makes me throw it up, I'll try one more time. But if I can't hold it down then it's a no go :(

[yurgenburgen]

Companies put use-by dates on their products that are a lot earlier than the actual use-by date because it encourages consumers to eat the products earlier than necessary so that they'll go out and buy another.

[Volt]

My milk gallons usually expire two or three days after the expiration date. They either smell bad or taste sour.

[Sentio]

At 7/8/09 09:41 PM, yurgenburgen wrote: Companies put use-by dates on their products that are a lot earlier than the actual use-by date because it encourages consumers to eat the products earlier than necessary so that they'll go out and buy another.

Also they are covering themselves and putting them as early as possible to avoid someone getting ill from eating something on the day of the use by date and suing them. Their is a lengthy window a product can go off in, companies simply use the earliest reasonable date.

And as such I will happily eat most products after the use-by-date, so long as there are no obvious signs of mould or the product going off. To date I have never become ill from doing so. Even if a product was looking a bit iffy, cooking it well would theoretically make it safe to eat (though I wouldn't personally risk it).

[Sheizenhammer]

At 7/8/09 09:37 PM, UpoqvoSAMMIovpoqU wrote: Are the use by dates on consumables accurate?

Not usually. To cover themselves from stupid lawsuits, food retailers are usually cautious about sell-by dates (putting them a few days before the food is known to spoil, as opposed to on the day).

Do people know that it is safe to eat (or use) on the use by date or only before the use by date?

Given the aove, you can usually eat them up to a couple of days after the use-by date.

Is bread for example supposed to produce mould a day after the use by date and is dangerous to eat?

Depends on where it's stored. Not that it matters: bread mould is only unpleasant to eat, not poisonous (unless eaten in large amounts, but the same holds true for any fungus).

Have you ever become ill from eating something which is out of date, or more interestingly something which was in date?

I'm eating some out-of-date peanuts right now. I'm fine, and I don't recall getting ill from eating things that were a few days out-of-date.

Do we waste an unbelievable amount of food due to inaccurate use by dates and do you think that the government should spend money on revising and extending use by dates?

Yes. Yes we do. However, there's no winning with sell-by dates. Either the government gets attacked for wasting food by having the curent restrictions, or for endangering public health by extending the dates to the times food is known to spoil at. People will whine anyway, and public health is usually more important than wasting food, so it's unlikely to change.

[HecticCircleCrap]

After the use by date, it pretty much tastes worse than usual, and may be ridden with diseases.