Use by/sell by dates - will we die?

X Posts f77ms !!

Just to report that we are both still alive.

A good example of the difference between 'sell by' and 'use by' grannypiper . You could buy those potatoes before their 'sell by' date but might not not use them at home till a week later, quite safely

grannypiper I bet he did ! I would not be worried about potatoes one day over the sell by date either . You can buy things on the sell by date then keep them at home and eat them . I think it had more to do with him not being allowed to sell them over their date .

I am another who is a bit paranoid about `use by` dates . I have thrown lots of things away because they have gone over . If my son is around when I am about to chuck things he says not to throw them out and that he will eat them !!! he has been OK up to now . If I ate them I would probably worry myself into getting symptoms . I would love to trust my own judgement about whether food is off but just don`t .

The co-op refused to sell me a bag of potatoes as they had gone out of date the day before.When i explained to the young man behind the till that the potatoes wouldnt kill me he replied that ^as they were past their sell by date they would make me seriously ill, he looked very confused when i laughed

Having worked in the food industry, I can tell you that sell by dates are hugely conservative - I mean hugely. On some products they can happily be used years after sell by date (the clove oil being a good example, oil really doesn't turn easily - it is used as a preservative for many foods) In most cases it really is a sell by date, to exonerate the supermarket and avoid liability. The only things where I am careful are fresh foods.

My father poisoned himself with sausages before the days of use by dates. They had gone off but he had no sense of taste and couldn't tell.

I do stick to use by dates especially on really high risk foods. With stuff you keep in the fridge once it's open I find that the length of time varies with the manufacturer. So if one says something will keep for four weeks+ but someone else tells you their Identical product will keep for two months I use the longer date for both versions.

Whether you pay attention to "sell by" and use "by dates", whatever you eat, you can still guarantee that, along with everyone else who is living or has ever lived on this planet, you will die.

What did we do before sell-by dates I wonder? Have every antibody known to man?

I m terrible if it looks ok and smells ok then it is ok A while back I rummaged in the first aid drawer for my clove oil as I had toothache my daughter took it out my hand and said ' how old's that ' ' not very' I told her, she looked and it was 16 years out of date Well it was still ok as far as I was concerned

Drink lots of ...water...or maybe red wine. Should flush out any unwanted guests.
Check in tomorrow to tell us all is well.

If it looks ok and tastes ok then probably .......?
Or not

Do you have a funeral plan?
I expect you will be ok.