How do you see the two dates which are shown on all food packs? Do you think that the "Sell By" date is the same as the "Best Before" date? Or do you look upon them as just guidelines?

My two daughters seem to look upon both dates as the same and work on the principle that if either date is passed then the food contained in the package suddenly at midnight on the date becomes highly toxic. Both of them will happily put items which have "Date Expired" into the nearest bin. Even stuff which is in the freezer gets a clear out from time to time and once the three month period for the three star freezer has expired that too goes in the bin.

In my case I have had steak and beef which is close to, or passed, its particular "Best Before" date which has been just right. Tender, tasty and most certainly not toxic and, what's more, much cheaper than the bright red stuff found on the Supermarket chill cabinets.

What do you do? Do you religiously stick to the dates or do you use your common sense and treat these dates with some discretion?

I use them as a very loose guideline! If the date on the milk is gone I give it a sniff and if it smells ok I use it.

The sell by date is for the shops and the best before date is meant to be a guideline for people. It seems to me such a waste to throw things away when they are absolutely fine to use.

I remember that my aunt's cupboards used to be full of tins that were years out of date - I might give something that out of date a miss

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Tinned food was invented for the forces when refrigeration and coolers weren't available. It was in Victorian times apparently. Captain Scott had lots of tins at the South Pole and these were fine when some of them were opened after many years. I have found that Tinned food, provided the integrity of the tin is sound, will be fine after years on the shelf. Tinned Tomatoes, for instance, whose tin is bent so the internal laquer lining is broken, will ferment in a very short space of time. Opening a swollen tin like this is tantamount to opening a volcano - it erupts in fine style.

If only I'd know that when I was younger - I could have had much fun in my Aunt's kitchen

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We do pretty much the same.

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It depends what it is as to wether it gets used beyond the "sell by" or "best before" date here.
I wouldn't use chicken,pork or fish beyond the date.

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Peggy still learning

I use my discretion I can usually tell if something is ok or not. I do agree with Peggy though I wouldn't mess about with fish and I wouldn't want to eat an out of date yoghurt either!
I read something in a magazine belonging to my sister yesterday, there is a documentary going to be shown soon about a man who is going to live on out of date food for a fortnight to see if it effects him....... I have looked for info online but not found any yet, but I did read it, wish I could rememeber what it was called and when it was on!

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This is interesting.

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Freegans' feast on leftovers

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Peggy still learning

Doesn't look like it's doing them any harm does it?

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