Food, best by, use by dates...
...so going through the fridge I've come across a languishing unopened packet of Oscar Mayer bacon (think catnip but for humans, if you've not indulged). Somehow this has got under the radar and has a 'Best by - 24/02/14' eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!'.I've no qualms with ditching stuff that is past the 'use by' date, but 'best before' Hmm?
Hehe, what would you do? bacon butty or landfill?
data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 Bacon butty. Would not even consider the other option. Open it, smell it. If it smells ok, get stuck in. cook it extra crispy, it will be fine. Give a slice to your wife or one of the kids first.
If they live, then its OK to go ahead and eat the rest yourself. Best before is just that.....it is kinda guaranteed to be best before a certain date. Eating after wont be of any danger, but just might not be tasting it's best....or have ideal texture etc.
Use by is more serious....normally on dairy and meat....where eating when old could actually be dangerous
Im surprised it's not a Use By on bacon mind you ! The smell test never fails! I had a situation once with a chicken breast portion, that was maybe one or two days past its sell-by date. Not a big deal, you might think, but it turned out the fridge it had been put into was old and developing a fault, where it wouldn't keep things cool much at all; the freezer compartment was practically not working. As a result, the chicken had a strong funny smell, but I cooked it in the oven for about an hour and it was fine anyway.
It depends what the sell-by date is for, but you've got to be particularly careful with meat. Then again, those dates are always rather conservative and I've used sliced bread up until a week after the sell-by date, about the time you have to start picking out the bits of mould. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 Pork, bit risky even if it's smoked.
Cake and biscuits? No problem. yep, this is a sensible option...least (hopefully) none will get wasted...