You may have seen this article on the BBC web site today...I was certainly interested to see what the general opinion was.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20971347
Half of the world's food is wasted, a new report says. Consumers typically use
the "best-before" or "use-by" dates to decide when to throw food away. But
should the "sniff test" be used instead?
If I'm concerned as to whether some food item is still OK I will always sniff it...if it smells OK then I'll taste a little bit...to me smells OK, tastes OK..probably IS OK!
I grew up in a house where mould was cut off of jam or cheese so that you could use the rest, so I'm happy to make my own decisions on whether something is safe to eat or not. I'm nearly 50 and have never experienced food poisoning (nor have I poisoned anyone else). Whilst I would agree that one perhaps ought to be more cautious where the very young, old or infirm are concerned I would have thought that most people would not be adversly affected by a properly cooked (and properly stored) bit of meat 1 day past the date stamped on it.
I thought this was going to be an article that would encourage people to use their common sense a bit and reduce some of the food waste that goes on in their own homes...sadly, I think not. They do clarify that "best-before" dates are supposed to tell the consumer more about "quality than
safety" very early on in the text, but then go into quite scare-mongering detail about how you can't smell if there is a problem so I think that this is ALL that most people will deduce from the whole thing. When you see health inspectors (and Gordon Ramsey) on the TV running around kitchens doing their nut, it always seems that the major issue is the way the food is stored or prepared that's dangerous rather than the sell by date. I think you're more likely to get food poisoning eating out rather than an out of date yogurt to be honest.
Should you smell food before throwing it away? - only if you are an adult and have common sense!
Anyway - rant over...I'm clearly past my sell-by date LOL
Take Care! ^..^
I am happy to use the sniff test for us, If it looks ok, smells ok and then tastes ok its not doing me any harm. I often cut the mouldy bit off the cheese and have eaten yogurts out of date. Far too many people throw perfectly good food away, my sister for one, she will cook a dinner and any left goes into the bin as it won't be very nice tomorrow! quite often a meal is better the next day especially a stew or curry even bubble and squeak is better after a day in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me cross that we live in such a throw away society.
Now you mention it, my brother does that too! He used to drive my Mum nuts by going through her fridge and chucking her stuff out too...how rude! :-)
DeleteMy OH thinks the best before dates are vital and checks stuff before he eats them. I just ate a yogurt dated 21.12.12. His loss, it was delicious!
ReplyDeleteheehee...you could deliberately hunt out delights close to their sell by date safe in the knowledge that they would be all yours :-)
DeleteI agree with you entirely. I also grew up in a household like yours, nothing was ever thrown out. I still remove the mould from jams and cheeses and I'm still here to tell the tale !
ReplyDeleteI used to have a couple of cleaning jobs, and I was always 'finding' perfectly good food chucked inthe kitchen bins - as long as it wasn't opened I would bring it home !! ha ha
Some people must have more money than sense eh? Their loss, your gain:-)
DeleteTotally in agreement with this. Especially dry stuff like pulses or pasta - I buy from Approved Food occasionally and often stock up on stuff like that that's a month over date. My Chap also says about yoghurt that as it's basically gone off milk anyways a few extra days or even weeks generally won't harm you. :-)
ReplyDelete...absolutely...who ever heard of pulses going off? I've never seen it for sure :-)
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