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

I am reviving an old topic, but I knew I couldn't be the ONLY one who developed this anxiety over expiration dates! I didn't even have this big of an anxiety when I lived sans electricity in Kenya. You just reheat things very well and try to keep things cool.

Gasp! I have potatoes in my cupboard that have a use by date of 7 January and it is the 28th today. My jam is 5 weeks opened. My milk has been opened 5 days. My kiwi fruit has been in the fruit bowl for weeks. The garlic has been in my cupboard since I moved in.  ohhh the list goes on and on!

This morning I realized I accidently left a wrapped raw chicken breast out on the counter. I decided to shed my anxieties and reclaim my old 3rd world habits and cooked it up for lunch... when should I expect the sickness?

We usually stick to the expiry dates, but on the odd occasion that we eat something that is a day or 2 out of date, we just quote my MIL, who will always say 'och well, at least we know what to tell the doctor!' 

This morning I realized I accidently left a wrapped raw chicken breast out on the counter. I decided to shed my anxieties and reclaim my old 3rd world habits and cooked it up for lunch... when should I expect the sickness?

Yikes!!! Was it out all night? If you're going to be ill it should manifest anytime between now and this evening. Probably sooner, though.  Good luck!!

'och well, at least we know what to tell the doctor!' 

EXACTLY! 

Just for everyone's information, there are legal and practical differences between 'best before' and 'use by' dates.

'Use by' is for highly perishable goods, meat, milk etc - the things you really need to be careful with. It's illegal for anything with a use by date to be sold after that date.

'Best before' (day/month/year) is for less perishable items jam, biscuits, eggs, veg etc You can safely eat most things after their best before dates although the quality may have suffered. It's not illegal to sell them although most of us would want a hefty discount to buy them. 

'Best before end' (month/year) is specifically for goods with very long shelf lives such as canned goods.  Legally it's the same as 'best before'

what happened with the common sense of knowning a black foul smelling yolk was  bad, and sour milk is no good etc? I don't like this legality stuff. My eggs have a date stamped on them! When is too far too far?

what happened with the common sense of knowning a black foul smelling yolk was  bad, and sour milk is no good etc? I don't like this legality stuff. My eggs have a date stamped on them! When is too far too far?

i have been wondering this same thing with the expiry date obssession in this country.  and my DH is the same way...he won't even touch it if it's past it's "best by", "best before" or "expires on" date.  i'm with you jklm725...as long as there isn't mold on it or a foul smell, i'm eating it for sure! 

have there been an over abuncance of people getting sick in the past cuz there wasn't a freakin' date on the box/package/container?  is this to say that common sense is out the window if there isn't a date?  i just don't get it.

I laughed in the store when I read the label on the dried apricots that said "wash before use" I grew up near a "farm" (by the time I was a teenager it was not quite the orchard it used to be) that dried fruit out in the open next to the main road. Exhaust, bird poop, whatever.

and no, I don't wash my dried fruit before I eat it. germs are good for you 

With eggs, meat and dairy, I follow the use by dates.  With fruit and veg, I use common sense.  The one that gets me is expiry dates on beer or soda. 

With eggs, meat and dairy, I follow the use by dates.  With fruit and veg, I use common sense.  The one that gets me is expiry dates on beer or soda. 

Or on bottled water. 

My fridge/freezer is a piece of sh*t, so my veggies often don't last as long as they're supposed to, anyway. I mean, the stuff that doesn't just go in the fruit bowl. My lettuce is constantly freezing and wilting. 

I'm with Cait: I do follow the rules on eggs, meat and dairy. Although I have been known to eat a yogurt a couple of days past its date.

I went to the Budweiser brewery in California and did the little tour. I volunteered to do the taste testing of beer before and after the "born on" date.  I prefered the expired Bud and failed every test. I was told since I was a wine drinker and liked world beers it makes sense I like "skunky" beer.  

Water can go off after a year or so. It gets a film on top... the bottled stuff. Growing up in California we always had to make sure extra water stored for possible earthquakes was good.

Now I'd understand if I eat out of the jar or use the same knife but I am careful not to... just extending my shelf life! 

why is there dates on things like jam, margarine, ketchup, salad dressing (mainly i'm speaking of those without dairy products in them...like a vinagrette), peanut butter, etc., etc,. etc.  even if these items sat in the fridge/cabinet for years you could probably give them a little stir and they would still taste the same.

i dunno....i don't go by the dates...i go by "if it looks bad or smells bad....it's bad.  everything else is consumable"  i've been using this all my life and haven't once gotten sick.  to each his own i guess......

growing up, my family always kept the butter in the fridge. My fridge here is too cold... I've even turned it down... and I decided to leave it out... still paranoid that it will make me sick, but it is sooo much easier to spread!

I bought some Heinz squeeze ketchup recently and when I opened it I noticed it was sooooo watery. Is that so it can squeeze easier? I am not a fan of the squeeze condiments. I popped that in the fridge with hopes it will get firmer.

I found that my fruit and veg last much longer if I get them out of those god-awful plastic wrappers/containers.  I remember when fruit was sold in the US in egg carton like material or potatoes in brown paper sacks (with a little cotton string window). 

Now, as soon as I buy my potatoes, they go straight into this bag.  I get from 2 to 4 days more use out of them than I do if I leave them in the plastic bag.  No going green!

I do get quite annoyed that many fruits and veggies are wrapped in plastic. I noticed that the unwrapped/packaged veggies and fruits aren't very nice though. So I end up at the farmer's market instead, but not very convenient though.

But don't even get me going on the rant of being able to buy foods out of season!!! Imagine my surprise in December when I saw cherries and strawberries!