Eating out of date food.

[gadgetguy]

I had a look to see if there was a topic on this but couldn't find one.

The idea is that you post when you have eaten something from your stores that is past its best before date. Let us know what it is,the manufacturer and of course the BB date.Tell us how it tasted,looked compared to in date ones.

Now this is not to encourage people to eat rotten food and common sense should apply. If it smells funny,cans bloated or you have any doubts don't eat it simples.

This may give us an indication of how long food can be eaten past its BB date and taste ok,obviously we cant comment on nutritional value.

Ok to kick off this week i have eaten a tin of Heinz Mac and cheese BB 7/13, tasted just as bad as it should and looked fine Also we have just finished a jar of Baxter's pickled beetroot BB 8/13 and its been open in the fridge for six months tasted just as good as a fresh jar and i'm still alive with no side effects.

[Brambles]

The last thing I ate OOD was a Heinz squeezy Tomato Soup single serving thingy. It was 6 months OOD and has gone very dark though still tasted tomatoey, but not as nice as an in date one. So I prob wouldn't have another cos I didn't like it much.

[Pete_59]

I tend to ignore dates, if the package/tin is undamaged, no dents or rust on tins then I'll go by common sense checks to decide whether or not to eat something, i.e. smell, no sign of mold etc.

I've eaten tinned and packet food that's been several years out of date, and on the basis that I'm still here it hasn't done me any harm.

[shocker]

This did come up in a discussion shortly after I joined the forum at the end of January, someone on here is involved in the food industry and knows a lot about this (and put me back in my box !) but I will have to search a bit to find them.

Personally I have eaten a lot of long dated food courtesy of HMG, the oldest, I think, was some bully beef that had gone out with Op. Torch, the relief invasion of north africa and was dated as being packed in 1942. It would have been about 1978/9 when I and many others ate it. But I wouldnt advise anyone else to do the same.

[Deeps]

This did come up in a discussion shortly after I joined the forum at the end of January, someone on here is involved in the food industry and knows a lot about this (and put me back in my box !) but I will have to search a bit to find them.

Personally I have eaten a lot of long dated food courtesy of HMG, the oldest, I think, was some bully beef that had gone out with Op. Torch, the relief invasion of north africa and was dated as being packed in 1942. It would have been about 1978/9 when I and many others ate it. But I wouldnt advise anyone else to do the same.

Where's Jansman when you need him. I bet it was him, he kens his onions.....and meat etc.

[jaffab]

My wife (who works in the commercial food delivery service) is a firm believer that dates can generally be ignored, and food can be eaten as long it smells/looks ok.

Me on the other hand - I am a great believer that film and TV quotes tell you all the rules you need for eating out of date food...

"I can keep that down" - Futurama
"I don't care what you smell" - Star Wars IV
(after pulling Chinese food carton from fridge) "Are Woo back in business? They closed down three years ago." - The Naked Gun
"There's something wrong with this yogurt. -Ah, that's not yogurt, that's mayonnaise... -Ah, right-o then. " - Notting hill
"If he dies, he dies" - Rocky IV

[Pete_59]

Keep in mind that the dates are BBE, Best Before End.

Thing is all the food stuffs seem to have the same duration, approximately 2 years, regardless of contents. However I've seen other websites that give some foods, if properly packaged and stored, a life of 30 years+.

What I've never seen is a report showing the scientific studies which prove that the dates of food packaging have been arrived at in a scientific manner.

[Bearded Prepper]

On that front has anyone seen a site that lists these dates as estimates?

[Brambles]

On that front has anyone seen a site that lists these dates as estimates?

I keep this link in my favourites http://www.stilltasty.com/

[Bearded Prepper]

Oh that's excellent Brambles, thanks