[Georgebulldog]

Strange question I know but I've noticed that all the food I buy doesn't have use by dates, just "best before" does this replace the "Use by" we had in the UK?:confused:

I always knew where I was with use by & never pushed it, now I'm thinking I'm eating stuff I should have thrown away :uhoh

[JandM]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=206&objectid=10487730&pnum=2

Looks as if it's a bit less regulated than in the UK.

[Georgebulldog]

Thanks for that, a bit worrying but I'm assuming from reading that as long as I eat it before the best before then I'll be OK, I'm almost 6 months pregnant so being extra carefull. Think I'll talk to the midwife on Wednesday.
Time they bought better practice, at least in the UK I knew where I was

[zardell]

I was once told by a manager from Asda's (a UK supermarket for those who don't know) that a 'use by' date is exactly what it says - to be used/consumed by that date.

A 'best before' date however can be used/consumed up to 6 months or more after it's expiry date.

Unless of course, you know different?

Julie

xx

[suzer]

I was once told by a manager from Asda's (a UK supermarket for those who don't know) that a 'use by' date is exactly what it says - to be used/consumed by that date.

A 'best before' date however can be used/consumed up to 6 months or more after it's expiry date.

Unless of course, you know different?

Julie

xx

definitely not 6 months after! a few days, at most. and both are pretty much the same.

[Jo Jo]

Here's what the New Zealand Food Safety Authority says:

Date marks and storage instructions

A date mark indicates the end of a food product’s shelf life, or when it may start to deteriorate. Most packaged foods with a shelf life of up to two years require a date mark, except for individual portions of ice cream, or for food products in small packages (such as chewing gum) where there is no food safety concern.

What the different date marks mean

The ‘Use By’ date indicates how long your food should keep safely if the storage instructions are followed. You should not buy or consume food when the ‘Use By’ date has expired and it is illegal to sell food with an expired ‘Use By’ date.

The ‘Best Before’ date indicates when the quality of the product may begin to change. It is not a safety issue. Food can be sold beyond its ‘Best Before’ date provided it is still fit for consumption.

The ‘Baked On/Baked For’ dates are used on bread products with a shelf life of less than seven days.

Safety-related storage instructions are required on certain food products in conjunction with date marks to guide your handling of the food so that its safety or quality isn’t jeopardised before the date mark expires. Pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria can grow to levels that may cause illness if your food is not stored correctly. These instructions may also indicate how to store the food once the package is opened (eg, ‘Refrigerate after opening’).

http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consumers/food-labelling/understanding-food-labels/

[zardell]

definitely not 6 months after!


Yes, I should have said that it depends what products we are relating to, but I do agree with JoJo's post in the respect that I believe that the 'use by' and the 'best before' dates are 2 different things.

Maybe it varies from country to country??

Julie

xx

[Georgebulldog]

That's all great
I don't think I made myself very clear, pregnancy brain turned to mush, I've noticed nothing with Use By Dates over here just best before
& the other thing is I'm used to the likes of sour cream saying "once opened consume with ** days" but nothing out here just "Best Before" not even "use by"
So maybe I should stick with what I know & use the best before as use by & not consume after that date?
Am I making sense yet? :o

[zardell]

Am I making sense yet? :o







Absolutely....:nice1

Julie

xx

[benandclare]

I got a 1.2 Kg Puhoi Mahu blue cheese from work with a best before of Jan 9 2008 and we've eaten half of it and it's getting yummier by the day :nice1 :nice1

[ellenmelon]

with things like milk, in winter especially (and ESPECIALLY in winter in the first house i was living in ireland, we could leave milk out in the kitchen and it would still be cold in the morning lol but eek) lasts a couple of days after the BB date..i give it a sniff and see :D

oh, and my mums cousin is a dairy farmer..so the milk thing is from the cows mouth so to speak ;)

[Georgebulldog]

I got a 1.2 Kg Puhoi Mahu blue cheese from work with a best before of Jan 9 2008 and we've eaten half of it and it's getting yummier by the day :nice1 :nice1


:eek:

I'm a use by date freak so this just makes my skin crawl :laugh

[Georgebulldog]

with things like milk, in winter especially (and ESPECIALLY in winter in the first house i was living in ireland, we could leave milk out in the kitchen and it would still be cold in the morning lol but eek) lasts a couple of days after the BB date..i give it a sniff and see :D

oh, and my mums cousin is a dairy farmer..so the milk thing is from the cows mouth so to speak ;)

A big fan of sniff it & see though :D

[suzer]

A big fan of sniff it & see though :D

Things can be spoilt and not have begun to smell yet, so it's iffy to go by the sniff test. Lots more cases if gastroenterisis in the UK, from what I remember, than any other industrialised country I've ever been to;)

[Smiler]

My OH's motto for use by/best before dates................

"If in doubt, throw it out" :laugh

[Lupin]

My husband comes from parent's who never throw anything out- a deprived childhood followed by many years in rural Zambia and some of this has rubbed off on him. The rule of thumb here is "if in doubt, give it to S". A lot of it's common sense though- things going rancid before they smell or taste off sounds ridiculous to me.

[Familyofmonkeys]

While I agree you really need to use some common sense when judging which foods really shouldn't be eaten, not all types of harmful bacteria in food can be detected by changes in smell/taste. Why else do so many people end up with e-coli and salmonella poisoning etc. There have been many studies in UK in recent years on bacteria levels in kids packed lunches, and the levels of harmful bacteria in some was quite scary. There was a documentary on it last year while still in UK. Yet, you wouldn't look at some sandwiches and think they smelt 'off'.

Just an observation but food safety standards in NZ seem way less strict that we were used to in UK. My daughters pre-school in UK would not let them even eat their packed lunch if it wasn't packed with a freezer block (unless a dry lunch) while her Kindy here in NZ have asked me why I bother putting a freezer block in her lunch box (despite them being stored in a warm room)...none of the other parents do :confused:

Also, people who are accustomed to eating food with more 'bad' bacteria in it are often more resistant to illness (but not immune). My grandmother used to horrify me. I once helped her clear out her kitchen and the cupboard was full of half eaten jars of food that should have been refridgerated, but wasn't e.g. pasta sauce, pesto, ketchup & sauces, mayonaise, low sugar jam etc. Also, half of it was also passed the use-by date and had been open for weeks or months. Yet, she suffered no ill effects from eating it, while I would likely have been ill. Mind you she didn't have a fridge when I was a small child and food used to be wrapped and stored in a bucket of cold water in her pantry. Suppose that is how she developed her cast iron stomach.

[suzer]

A lot of it's common sense though- things going rancid before they smell or taste off sounds ridiculous to me.

ditto family of monkeys on her response. it's not ridiculous---this is why people get ill.

[suzer]

Just an observation but food safety standards in NZ seem way less strict that we were used to in UK.

No offense to all the brits on here but the food hygeine standards I saw in the UK were the worst I've ever seen. Washing dishes but not rinsing them, leaving pots of food out or in the oven all night, then heating them up and thinking that doesn't make you sick...ugh. Same seems to go here and in Oz, but I figured that was because aussies and kiwis just tend to hold with british practice a lot more than americans.

[Familyofmonkeys]

leaving pots of food out or in the oven all night, then heating them up and thinking that doesn't make you sick...ugh.

Ewww.......I guess it all depends on the environment you see these things! That sounds like alot of the bad practice that gets uncovered regularly in UK food outlets....but it is certainly not standard practice.

Been watching Gordon Ramsey Uncovered on TV (can't remember but think either Thursday or Friday evenings about 9.30pm) and some of the bad practice he showed was just dire.

[Sam B]

Well, I spent my childhood eating the most unbelievably mouldy food - I often saw my Dad scrape a layer of mould off the corned beef before he sliced it onto my plate (classy!) and other much worse practices which would turn your stomach so I won't go into them. Now I'm fairly careful these days, but I have to say, I have the most incredible resistance to food poisoning - I've NEVER had it, even when I've eaten food that's made everyone else sick. So I reckon I could thank my Dad for that, but I still have a phobia about corned beef.....

[Familyofmonkeys]

Well, I spent my childhood eating the most unbelievably mouldy food - I often saw my Dad scrape a layer of mould off the corned beef before he sliced it onto my plate (classy!) and other much worse practices which would turn your stomach so I won't go into them. Now I'm fairly careful these days, but I have to say, I have the most incredible resistance to food poisoning - I've NEVER had it, even when I've eaten food that's made everyone else sick. So I reckon I could thank my Dad for that, but I still have a phobia about corned beef.....

Are you veggie now then?

[Sam B]

Well, I eat fish, but defo no meat - ugh

[Will_2007]

I think some people worry too much, some don't worry enough! For example, if I'm eating a biscuit and it breaks and a bit drops onto the floor, I'll usually pick it up and eat it anyway, as long as it is visibly clean (i.e. no bits stuck to it, and the floor looks clean). I have't died from this yet, I figure it just keeps my immune system on its toes... my colleague sitting next to me is usually horrified if I do this, but then again she has mild OCD (hand washing & general cleaning) and I think this may cloud her judgement on the matter ;)

I'll happily eat a yoghurt that is a week or two past its use-by date, but I will see if it looks and smells funny first. My wife won't touch milk that smells even vaguely 'not fresh', whereas as long as it doesn't taste bad I'll drink it regardless of dates. But then again I used to eat soil when playing in the garden as a toddler, obviously gave me a strong stomach!

Basically just use common sense! And if you're pregnant then err on the side of caution.