as above really!i've never been fussy,brought up with the view they're just a load of tosh to get rid of corned beef from the war,and anything in the fridge is perfectly edible if it doesn't stink and whatever's growing on it hasn't taken root.and i'm not dead and cant remember the last time i was ill.now i'm scraping through the freezer tho,waiting for payday i'm gettin down to stuff that i doubt ever lived in the first place,processed burgers sausages etc,i probably bought when i moved in 3 years ago!chance them this week and beer on friday or play it safe?!
considering that most bacteria multiply on warm moist environments i would say your pretty safe with frozen food, just make sure its cooked properly!
In the words of Ray Winstone...
"Get it down ya....Sharpish!"
[Edited on 17/1/10 by prawnabie]
Frozen stuff will be fine so long as it is cooked properly
I recently had some 10year past the sell by date Guiness from a can - perfect. I think the smell test is your best bet, but, doesn't a thurough cooking kill it all???....
The flavour and texture may be past the best, but it will not kill you.
iirc the problem with some out of date foodstuffs is not the food itself, but the numerous 'additives' now used.
The 'old' tin of beans or bully beef from 50 years ago is probably still ok. However, the 5 year old tin with chemical preservatives etc. is
probably not. Some of the chemicals added can change when stored beyond their sell by date.
Same could be true of frozen items !
if it dont smell, look or taste funny then i usually eat it
i had some microwave bbq ribs out the freezer the other day they must have been in there for over 3 years still tasted fine.
here goes aug2007 crunchy garlic chicken then!
good boy
check the inside surface of the can, if looks ok, then tinned food is safe to eat.
frozen food beware. just because it is kept in a freezer, the low temperature slows down dramatically but does not stop bacteria and other
nasties from noshnhing on your food.
If you are happy to risk agonizing stomach pain and liquid bum squrits then go ahead and eat. 
Prawns and shell filsh are particularly bad.
Most things are fine well past the sell by dates. There are a few exceptions to the rule though:
Cooked meats - particularly pork
Cooked Rice - takes just a day or two to be able to make you v. ill
Yoghurts
And don't confuse 'sell by' and 'display until' with 'use by' - the first two are for the benefit of the shop, while the last one is for the customer.
Did anyone see the TV programme a few months ago in which a chap ate over a 2
week period food progressively more past it's date. He started with stuff a day out,
then two etc. The last thing was a chicken breast that was slimy, had that evil spottyness
poultry develops and stank so bo bad his wife had to leave the kitchen.
It was tested and rife but after thorough cooking was clear and was eaten with no
ill effects.
Eat it, you'll be fine. My nose is my sell by tester.
I pay no attention to sell by dates myself. If it's fresh and isn't moldy and doesn't smell it's fine. If it's frozen it's fine.
quote:
Originally posted by StrikerChris
here goes aug2007 crunchy garlic chicken then!
It's not a good sign is it?
How was it??
I had loads in my freezer that was years out of date. All tasted lovely!!
Its the risk of the shits makes eating it more fun
My Gran inlaw eats anything thats out of date. She even cooks roast potatoes in the same fat for years. She actually cooks the potatoes, lets the
fat solidify in the roasting tin and puts it in the cupboard until next time she does the spuds. Get it out shuvs it in the oven cooks the spuds and
does the same again!! True story! My wife told me only a few weeks ago having had several roasts round there and showed me the tin in the
cupboard!!
[Edited on 17/1/10 by Danozeman]
All you lot of bastards have killed StrikerChris, well at least assisted in his suicide...
I'm tellin............
I saw someone eat a Muller Light yoghurt with a best before of 10th December the other day
quote:
Originally posted by Danozeman
My Gran inlaw eats anything thats out of date. She even cooks roast potatoes in the same fat for years. She actually cooks the potatoes, lets the fat solidify in the roasting tin and puts it in the cupboard until next time she does the spuds. Get it out shuvs it in the oven cooks the spuds and does the same again!! True story! My wife told me only a few weeks ago having had several roasts round there and showed me the tin in the cupboard!!
[Edited on 17/1/10 by Danozeman]
Mother in laws larder is full of stuff from the Iron-Age! No-ones ever come away from her house with food poisoning!
my G/F was nipping my head because the Mustard Powder was dated 1998. and I still used it..
I pointed it that it used to be used as a preservative so it will be fine
she's happy now - The tin is finished.....
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
Should you not do that then? It's what I was brought up on?
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
Has anyone noticed just how long you can keep a loaf of sliced bread these days before it starts going mouldy? I hate to think how many chemicals are pumped into it. It gets a bit stale after a few days but still makes good toast.
We make our own bread, it goes in the freezer in batches and never gets chance to go stale. Home made bread made the old fashioned way goes hard but can still be toasted, shop bread in a plastic bag lasts a few days then grows a green fur coat. The fridge roulette game is fun, get it down your neck. The green stuff is like penicillin so it might be good for you.
Generally with canned goods your ok if the can is undamaged.
My dad used to work in food processing plant and once the product is cooked canned and sealedthe bacteria is dead.
Its only if the can is damaged and air and bacteria can get in that you have problems. Also with him being a Chemist we also had the lecture about it
not being the actual bacteria that makes you ill but the by productof its digestive process i.e. its poo.
As has been said previously freezing below -5 make bacteria dormant doesnt kill it. When you defrost it the bacteria multiply like crazy hence you
should never refreeze as there will be an exponentially larger no to multiply like crazy when you thaw it out the second time.
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
Has anyone noticed just how long you can keep a loaf of sliced bread these days before it starts going mouldy? I hate to think how many chemicals are pumped into it.
Fat from meat can still go rancid in the freezer. However a few days past the use by date is fine with the exceptions of cooked rice, milk and
fish.
Missus loved that program too, apparently the bloke's wife did it with him and was sick as a dog though he was fine. I suppose it depends on what
you're made of..
My mum had a go at me a couple of years ago for throwing out a tin that had a 12 1/2p label on it, went out of date in 1977! (when did they stop doing
half pennies?)
quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
Fat from meat can still go rancid in the freezer. However a few days past the use by date is fine with the exceptions of cooked rice, milk and fish.
Missus loved that program too, apparently the bloke's wife did it with him and was sick as a dog though he was fine. I suppose it depends on what you're made of..
My mum had a go at me a couple of years ago for throwing out a tin that had a 12 1/2p label on it, went out of date in 1977! (when did they stop doing half pennies?)
If it smells ok I eat it.
Otherwise it goes in the dog
Not much goes to waste when I am about 
Never been ill through out of date food either. Virtually all dates are 'best before' anyway so just means it might not be at its best after
Never been ill through out of date food, but have been ill through not properly cooked food... and 3 weeks of putting jalapenos on pizza every day!
How many days do you think we should give it before we pronounce him dead and ask the old bill to go and find his corpse?
quote:
Originally posted by martyn_16v
How many days do you think we should give it before we pronounce him dead and ask the old bill to go and find his corpse?
Blue mould on bread is carcenogenic DONT EAT IT.
There is a reported case of the father of one of my dads work colleagues who loved the taste of blue bread mould, he died at the age of 53 with
extremely advanced stomach cancer attributed to the bread mould
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
Has anyone noticed just how long you can keep a loaf of sliced bread these days before it starts going mouldy? I hate to think how many chemicals are pumped into it. It gets a bit stale after a few days but still makes good toast.
We've got a breadmaker as well, but inevitably we end up with part of a mouldy loaf as out bread consumption is rather variable!
Never noticed, because we never buy that rubbish! We've got a breadmaker, which produces excellent bread - just 5 minutes of work to set it up, then take the hot, fresh loaf out a few hours later.
And that DOES get stale fairly quickly, 'cos it's REAL bread! So it either gets eaten, or sliced then frozen.
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
We've got a breadmaker as well, but inevitably we end up with part of a mouldy loaf as out bread consumption is rather variable!
Nothing goes mouldy in our house... The only thing I can remember actually going out of date (apart from sauce) was locked away!