Things going "off" quicker?

This thread made me laugh. Our last houseguest was big on "Use-by dates are mere suggestions not edicts set in stone!" so he kept scolding me for tossing out-of-date stuff. That is until he made his morning coffee once with milk that was a day past its due date.


(insert unpleasant consequences smiley here)

Never lectured me again after that.

Hi,

No you are not alone. Also, I always put my eggs in the refrigerator just in case. I know it is not common practice here and is even frowned upon as being very American in some situations, but I personally don't like taking a chance and think its worth the effort. Hey, the life you save may be your own 

With a lot of dairy, I'm pretty sure it's pasteurization differences. My US cream has about the equivalent staying power of what they sell as "long life" cream here, and extra pasteurizing (or is it filtering?) is what makes it long life, I gather.

A country that has a popular, seemingly ever fresh snack food, the Twinkie would make me highly suspect the amount of preservatives they can get away with in the States. Ever have one of THOSE go bad?

it scares me slightly that US bread can stay good for so long. 

I feel the same way!

Although, living alone, I tended to keep bread in the freezer in both the US and UK so never had a problem. Even in the US, I couldn't eat it fast enough to stop it turning green!

I feel the same way!

Although, living alone, I tended to keep bread in the freezer in both the US and UK so never had a problem. Even in the US, I couldn't eat it fast enough to stop it turning green!

Yeah, that's a constant battle for us too. We love bread but we just don't eat it quickly enough. Keeping it in the fridge/freezer was what someone (hey, maybe it was you, chary!) recommended to do when I complained about this a while back, so that's been really helpful.

A country that has a popular, seemingly ever fresh snack food, the Twinkie would make me highly suspect the amount of preservatives they can get away with in the States. Ever have one of THOSE go bad?

They have plenty of snack foods here that last forever and many in the US that go off quickly.  It all depends on what you want to spend your money on.

I just kind of eyeball the bread.  If it's just going a little stale, it becomes toast, but obviously if I see mold, into the trash it goes.  Milk we go through pretty quickly, so I've only tossed the last splashes when the sell by date passes.  But I usually do a bit of a sniff test when it gets around the date.

Everything else I kind of eyeball.  I think because the stuff here is less well..full of chemical crap. 

Soy products tend to last a lot longer, if you're looking to get more bang for your buck.  But not everyone digs soy! 

Good to see it isn't just me!  I think it is partially our Fridge not being cold enough, it's cranked to the max but just doesn't seem to be as cold as it ought to be.  Oh well, I just buy the smaller milk and tell the bf to scarf any extra dairy stuffs. 

I buy bread here in the US with no preservatives (organic) and it still lasts longer than my UK bread did. Except for in the heat of the summer. So I still think it has a lot to do with environmental conditions.

I buy bread here in the US with no preservatives (organic) and it still lasts longer than my UK bread did. Except for in the heat of the summer. So I still think it has a lot to do with environmental conditions.

I agree.  I wonder if the dairy issue has to do with smaller fridges.  If you are putting something even slightly warm into a small fridge it will heat the air, and items around it, way more than a giant fridge in the US.

Humidity plays a small part in the bread issues - hence keeping it in a breadbox here rather than out on the counter - but the vast majority of the longevity of commercial bread in the US vs the UK is the preservatives.  I grew up in the Deep South in a house with no A/C (a hotter, stickier more humid environment than any here in the UK) and my bread still lasted over a week - it'd go stale before it went moldy!  Not so much the case here in the UK.

Ugh. There were so many times Tim and I would do weekly grocery shopping, pickup some bread items to use later in the week, and by the time we got around to using them, the bread would be moldy (like rolls).  I never understood why, so this thread has really helped me!

I'm not a milk drinker, so I never noticed the milk going bad faster, but I did notice my yogurt going off a lot faster!

I agree.  I wonder if the dairy issue has to do with smaller fridges.  If you are putting something even slightly warm into a small fridge it will heat the air, and items around it, way more than a giant fridge in the US.

I also noticed that the items we put in/on the door went off faster.  I had cheese on one of the door shelves and it went bad within a few days, but putting it on a shelf and the same brand lasted for 2 weeks.

I don't buy bread or rolls in the UK because there is no way I can eat a whole loaf or package before it goes stale.

That's another thing - they don't sell half-loaves of bread here. 

Food packaging seems to be geared to people with large families.

I don't buy bread or rolls in the UK because there is no way I can eat a whole loaf or package before it goes stale.

That's why I put it in the freezer! What about rolls? You can buy bakery rolls individually at the supermarket so you only have what you need.

That's why I put it in the freezer!

Me too - When I moved out of my parents' house last year, I was throwing away half of my bread because I wasn't able to eat a whole loaf by myself before it went off, but now I just put the loaf in the freezer and defrost a few slices at a time (every few days) - it works really well and means I only have to buy bread every 2 weeks or so now.