Sell Buy dates

When my mum started work in a local grocery shop at 15 in 1948 her first job each day was to check the cheese and pare off any bits of mold. The rest of the cheese was still sold. The owner would check the bacon which hung in the cold room and trim off any bits that were maggoty. Again the rest was sliced and sold.

You couldn't just waste food in those days. He taught mum what the customer doesn't know won't hurt them as long as the food hasn't gone off.

I never freeze cured meat or fish. If it smells okay and isn't slimy I eat it. I never throw anything away which I consider edible. DH on the other hand goes by the dates, he sees the sell by or use before date and sticks rigidly to what it says on the pack. I don't understand why though. He used to have his own grocery store, before the advent of the big supermarkets. He boiled his own hams, had a rotisserie in the window, cooking chickens all day long, the bacon he sold was yummy. He didn't have sell by dates then. He didn't waste very much either. It makes him want to weep at the amount of perfectly good fruit and veg the Co-op throw away at the end of each day. ( But that is the subject for another discussion).

DH will eat most things that are a bit out of date but when I showed him the pate and smoked salmon in the freezer he said

(also some frozen packets of ham and corned beef ....)

Juts a caution about live yogurts. On two occasions lately my DH has eaten an Activia yogurt that was one day out of date and ended up with severe stomach cramps and he has the constitution of an ox. I throw them out now so he can't 'save them being wasted'.

I think it depends a bit on the person too.
My dad never got anything from any food way past its dates. Ever.

When I married my husband, I used the same methods. Oh dear. It took me more than a year when we were first married, to realise he could barely go a day over the recommended times on most things before he would have a problem.
Sorry husband!

You're right she did say fridge. It was the garage bit that threw me.

anya I think granjo said fridge although she may have meant it was in the freezer section.

I have some smoked salmon and paté in the freezer from the Christmas before last. I keep eying it up but will probably throw it when I tidy the freezer!

I don't make too much fuss about use by dates. Like granjo I have eaten smoked mackerel that has been a couple of months out of date, without ill effect, though I think I might have baulked at eight months! I have kept trout in my freezer for up to year, Pompa - and then thrown them away! I have so gone off the taste of fresh trout that I have stopped tapping them now. Maybe I should invest in a smoker.

IMO best before dates are only guidelines and common sense should prevail. Many of the foods we buy have been preserved and possibly be months for years old any way (cheese, smoked/cure fish and meats etc.) So a few more months will not matter much provided they are kept under good conditions. Frozen food can be kept for very long periods, although flavour may suffer. I keep trout in my freezer for up to a year before smoking it.
Use before dates need to be considered carefully but still leave some leeway.
Yoghurt is a prime example, as it ages it will become thicker and more acid but still quite edible, anyone who makes their own yoghurt will know this.
Fresh beef should already be at least 3 weeks old, and can be purchased up to 12 weeks old from some butchers (at a price), so again a few days over the date will not hurt.

I use my senses before I throw food away.

But surely the date of May 2014 was for the unfrozen product, bought vacuum packed from the chill section and then frozen 'on day of purchase' as per instructions?

Tins, fine, but fish over 8 months old? I'd say you were asking for trouble. I agree about common sense though, but , but, but

We're working through some tins of tomato soup which got to the back of the cupboard and have January 2014 on them. Can't quite see why canned goods have such BBE dates on them, as it's such an efficient way of preserving food. The soup is perfectly fine, but my sister would have a fit!

Vacuum packed?

If it's not mouldy and smells ok, I'd give it a go.
I'm impressed that ou tackled a May 2014 date !!

Sell by dates are mainly for retailers. Use by dates are a food safety guide for purchasers. Best before dates are a quality guide for purchasers, i.e. the food may still be safe to eat but its texture or flavour or both may be deteriorating.