[MERGED]: Exp. dates/Best before & use by dates

My husband is insane! We throw away so much food in our house because it is one day out of date or even expired on that day. My husband wont touch any food that is just slightly out of date. What is it about out of date stuff here? I bought some diet coke at an off licence a few weeks ago that was one week out of date it was like 4 cans for 50p. I didnt realize Coke could be outdated.  Do they preserve their foods differently here or something? What happens to your stomach if you drink milk that is a day outdated? Do we explode? And who decides how long milk/cheese is good for? Is it the cow?

My husband does the same thing.  He just won't eat it, even if it's never been opened. 

hmm. mine never even looks!!! he relies on me!!!!

DH is the same way.  Very persnickety about bread in particular.  It can be ONE day out of date and he'll say it's "dry and manky".  Was it dry and manky 24 hours ago?!?   

My DH is a bit odd about this but not as bad as some of you! It drives me nuts though. Was there some big campaign in the 80s or something about the sanctity of sell-by and use-by dates?

I know that in theory when food goes off, you won't likely notice it at first. I mean, mold and stuff has to take time to develop. But I agree that common sense should prevail. One day isn't gonna make such a huge difference.

Like Aimiloo, I usually control the fridge so it's not such a big deal and he's rarely ill so I must be doing thing OK!

I've got my husband to the point where he repeats after me - "If it's not green and fuzzy, it's okay."   

Just kidding.  He has definitely gotten more relaxed about dates on certain items, though.

Of course, with a houseful of guys, food doesn't usually stick around long enough to expire! 

Our rule of thumb is when in doubt, throw it out, however living here I have caught a bit of the paranoid bug about dates - can't explain why the natives have it but I know for me since I am not quite sure how they determine what (even though logically it will be along the same lines of back home), I just think it's better to err on the side of caution. Like the way things are done here still has this impenetrable mystery to it - totally irrational way to think, I know.

I have found that once opened a jar of sauce does seem to go off faster here even though it's refrigerated. I guess maybe it's less preservatives? Anyway, if it's not opened I tend to not worry so much about the sell by date, but after we open a jar I try to use it up as soon as possible.

Jamie definitely has this paranoia. I don't really pay that much attention - I have a stomache of iron (touch wood.) But he's a big advocate of freezing things that are about to go out of date - he works for Waitrose and has been known to come home with a bag full "reduced to 99p" items that are going to expire the next day and stuffing the freezer with them. I occaisionally go through the freezer and am amazed at what's in there! LOL.

My husband has the same paranoia - as does his mother. But she explained it to me one time... or at least explained why she personally was so paranoid about it. She went for a very very long time in her life before she had a refrigerator as they were always too poor to have one. It wasn't until she was a teenager that she had one - and she is FAR from alone in that, I've been surprised by how many people I know here that didn'tgrow up with refrigerators! Anyway, because of that she was always very very careful about only eating things if she was 100% sure they were fresh. That combined with the fact that English food has a heck of a lot less preservatives than American food (as with commercial loaves of bread especially!)... she got paranoid about it. And my husband just inherited that from her, as did her 3 other sons.

I'm with Peedal...when the boys are here...food doesn't last very long...

BUT, I don't get expiration dates stamped on EGGS!! 

I still use them after they expire...heck in Florida when I was single - I used to have eggs for MONTHS and they were always okay (as long as they were still in the fridge).

When Dave and I are the only ones in the house...we don't buy much food - so don't look so much at the dates...except bread...he has this RULE about bread! LOL

I'm pretty strick about following expiration dates on meats, cheeses and bread.  But some of the expiration dates on veggies are just plain silly, IMNSHO.

I'm one of those people who are paranoid about exp. dates. It's a family joke. When I'm at my mom's house eating she says things like "would you like to check the exp. dates on the salad dressing before you have your salad?" Ummm yeah actually I would because she always seems to have expired things in her fridge. Yuck. She's one of those that goes by smell and taste rather than date but that just really freaks me out.

I'm one of those people who are paranoid about exp. dates. It's a family joke. When I'm at my mom's house eating she says things like "would you like to check the exp. dates on the salad dressing before you have your salad?" Ummm yeah actually I would because she always seems to have expired things in her fridge. Yuck. She's one of those that goes by smell and taste rather than date but that just really freaks me out.

My sister is that way too.  She's rude about it though.  I've never seen anything expired in my mom's fridge but my sister checks everything closely.  It's.. odd.  After a bout with food poisoning earlier this year, I'm vigilant about lunch meat.  Eggs are fine if they still float in water.   

My husband is insane! We throw away so much food in our house because it is one day out of date or even expired on that day.

We tend to be the other way round. Mrs C is the one who is generally more concerned about the "use by" date.
The only think I am finniky about is milk. But your nose is a pretty good guide to that.