Use By/ Best Before Dates

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

Posted by LesR on 17/11/2015 13:40:30:

As to the reference to the beer line cleaning bottle, they are pressure vessels and require a date to show when they require replacing. This has been around since the Brewing Society introduced its Code of Practice around 1975

Les

Ah, thanks Les. That makes perfect sense now. I've been seeing these for years and have always been a little puzzled as to why.

Steve

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

The phrase "Use by" has always amused me [ mind you that's not hard ] when applied to food. Can understand "use by" applied to something like a tin of polish but food ?

 

My warped mind imagines two of ASDA's finest Cornish Pasties wedged behind the back wheels on the Donald when parking on steep hills. THAT entails "Use By"

Edited By John Stevenson on 17/11/2015 18:39:21

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

In the interests of science (and being a Scottish-blooded Yorkshireman) I ate a packet of Nairns oatcakes a couple of weeks ago that were 5 years past their BB date. They were still crisp and recognisable but tasted pretty rank, sort of like linseed but more like putty than the stuff you might put in bread. No idea why they tasted so awful, possibly the plastic itself or perhaps over that time the plastic is sufficiently permeable to allow other stuff in. Anyway I'm still here. Probably slept better than if I'd actually had to throw them out…..

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

One of my many hats at work covers legalities related to food packaging. Best before is just that, after this date the product may deteriorate in one way or another but should not be dangerous to eat. Use by again is just as it suggests, and to use beyond that date may incur health risks. With regards to plasticizers and in fact all food related packaging which has no functional barrier between itself and the food a migration test must be conducted, and it must pass before going into the market place. Now in the UK there are no legally bound limits for this migration amount, infact hardly anyone but the Swiss has them, so we all adopt the current Swiss standard, but things are changing quickly. Having said all this, I routinely keep my bacon 6 weeks after the use by date – it tastes better!

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

For drugs, it seems reasonable to assume that any degradation starts as soon as they are made, and proceeds at steady rate. I would guess that the 'use by date' is a conservative estimate of how long they will keep their required level of activity given storage at the 25 degrees on the packet.

I recall from school science that for a 10-degree temperature rise most reactions roughly double in speed, So put those drugs in a fridge and they will last eight times longer.

Funnily enough I came across something a few days ago that had two 'product lifetimes' at different temperatures on it 9not an end date). Darned if I can remember what it was.

Neil

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

Did anyone watch "Hugh's War on Waste" on the telly? Makes you think don't it ?

Mick

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Posted by John W1 on 17/11/2015 13:06:00:

Posted by Bazyle on 17/11/2015 12:36:24:

On the other hand there was that polar exploration team that got stranded and thought they would have been ok eating their tinned food that had just been invented. However as a result of the lead soldering to make the tins half of them died from lead poisoning instead of starvation.

A more accurate……………………………………………………………………………………..

 

There are still a number of old houses in the UK that still have lead water supply pipes. That has been a worry for some time.

John

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Hi John, I have only lived in one house which didn't have a lead pipe rising main and that was only for a couple of years and I've never had any lead poisoning. I think a lot of people worry about lead pipes supplying their homes unnecessarily. Normally the inside of lead pipes form an oxide coating soon after cold water is passing through it, which forms a barrier between the lead and water, which will last indefinitely provided the pipe is not disturbed. In days of old however, most homes that were fortunate to have hot running water also, were at risk of lead poisoning, because hot water removes any oxides that may have formed and picks up particles of lead as it flows through the pipe which is absorbed through the skin when washing and bathing in it. I believe your body can't remove lead naturally and you get lead poising by accumulation over a period of time. My parents told me that once the link between lead pipes and hot running water was discovered, they were encouraged to replace them and back then it was galvanized steel pipes. Cold water lead pipes were apparently deemed to be safe and as far as I'm aware still are, provided they are not disturbed.

On a separate note, use by dates do enter into engineering at times, the humble grinding and cutting discs used on angle grinders and chop off saws all have use by dates, which you should be able to find on the steel blotter where you clamp them on.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 17/11/2015 21:27:12

[norman valentineParticipant @normanvalentine78682]

I used to make alcoholic ginger beer for sale. It was required for me to put a sell by date on it. I had no idea how long it would be safe to drink it and certainly could not afford for scientific tests to be done. I guessed six months, nobody died. Do the manufacturers of food products really know how long and how safe their products are? Mankind has survived for many thousands of years eating anything that would keep them alive. Yes, some died, but as a race we are still here.

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

I think that the polar explorers lead poisoning came from the lead pipework of the newly fitted out ship with all its mod cons and lead water tanks and pipes as was explained on TV just a few weeks ago.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 17/11/2015 20:14:29:

Funnily enough I came across something a few days ago that had two 'product lifetimes' at different temperatures on it 9not an end date). Darned if I can remember what it was.

Neil

.

Alzheimer's tablets ?

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

Posted by Mick Henshall on 17/11/2015 20:36:35:

Did anyone watch "Hugh's War on Waste" on the telly? Makes you think don't it ?

Mick

Yep and was thoroughly ashamed that a Yorkshire originated food stores name could be besmirched by the little t**d that stated "The supplier has the right to sell to who ever he wants" Good that he works south of Watford.

Well used phrase in the town of Morrisons original store, "Come back Ken, all is forgiven.

Regards Ian

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Nick -Older people generally used to run the taps for some time if they were away from home for a significant period. By older I mean those born well before WW II and much earlier. Drummed into me so I even do that with copper pipes – the lead has been replaced here.

Don't knock Hugh. He has came up with the best way of cooking a duck. People should try it. Brilliant.

One thing I know for sure, use by date is abused to encourage more sales and that has been demonstrated in many areas.

In certain super markets it's possible to buy meat that is still within it's use by date and has partly gone off. Since having that happen a couple of times we now don'y buy meat off them again under any circumstances. We have never had that problem with Liddl but have with a couple of well known names.

I wonder how many people have peeled a potato and noticed a slight green tinge. Advice for pregnant women used to be don't eat them. What goes on with potatoes now is disgusting. They lie around chilled.

My brother lived in a flat over an old style Asian shop for a while. When we visited I used to buy very large packets of herbs and spices that would last us for several years. Now my wife goes through the herb and spices shelves regularly and throws them away as soon as the date is up. We periodically now have to eat something or the other because it's getting near the use by date. My wife loves to have too much in stock like many do.

Then there are the best before dates ……………………………

John

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[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

After forgetting to bring my breakfast in this morning I can confirm that a Jordans Frusli bar that is 18 months past its date tastes rather stale. Trouble is I have several more ………

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Just this morning my sister was saying she should use her new dishwasher machine while it was under guarantee, then she said it's got a life time guarantee, who's, or what's life time?

Ian S C

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

I still use Tensol 12 acrylic cement from a tin with an expiry date somewhen in 1988. I do have to add a bit of solvent (DCM) now and then to keep it runny, but otherwise it seems perfectly all right. I've never quite understood why it has an expiry date.

On the matter of lead water pipes, I have a section from a 1930s house in a hard water area whose bore still has the die marks from when it was made, and a very light coating of mineral – whether limescale or oxidation I have never investigated. My parents told me that when they lived in a soft water area, lead pipes would develop pinholes after a few years where the lead dissolved. So I guess the danger from lead poisoning varied according to where you lived.

George

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

I'm currently heating up some tomato and spinach soup that is 2 days past it's use by date.

By folks. May not be able to post again until i recover – if I do.

John

–

Edited By John W1 on 20/11/2015 13:36:49

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Posted by John W1 on 20/11/2015 13:36:20:

I'm currently heating up some tomato and spinach soup that is 2 days past it's use by date.

By folks. May not be able to post again until i recover – if I do.

John

–

Edited By John W1 on 20/11/2015 13:36:49

Fortune favours the brave, as my Granddad used to say.

[its-smeeParticipant @its-smee]

I had a number of bottles of Worcester Sauce that were three years past their use by date. I was just about to throw them out when there was a programme on TV about Worcester Sauce and the presenter was drinking sauce that was 100 years old. He made the statement " the older the better" t he BB dates were imposed on Lea & Perrins by the bureaucrats in gov't. needless to say they never went in the bin and tasted delicious

[frank brownParticipant @frankbrown22225]

In the 60s My parent rented a grocers shop, as the fridge was dropping through the floor, the area under the building was investigated. My dad found a pile of " Great Dane" brand spaghetti in tins, most of which has blown. We did sample some of the tins and it was OK but very bland. Dad said it was a wartime special during the period of rationing.

Huh, my Dad, he also bought some really old biscuits the wholesaler had found, they were again bland but also contained weevils, which are tasteless but very gritty. Still he saved 5 pence three farthings! They also sold biscuits from the glass topped tins including one for broken biscuits, which I guess were reduced. I do remember that they, now and then, tipped some decent biscuits into the broken ones to give them more "eye" appeal.

You tell that to the kids now a days. . . .

Frank

[Enough!Participant @enough]

Posted by Ian S C on 20/11/2015 12:22:11:

Just this morning my sister was saying she should use her new dishwasher machine while it was under guarantee, then she said it's got a life time guarantee, who's, or what's life time?

It's guaranteed for the lifetime of the machine. When it fails it's dead and its lifetime is over.

[Enough!Participant @enough]

Posted by its-smee on 20/11/2015 15:58:34:

BB dates were imposed on Lea & Perrins by the bureaucrats in gov't.

I don't suppose L & P complained too much. As long as they gave it a reasonable life (a year or two) it wouldn't hurt sales (they'd be mildly increased by replacements for those dumped as being past their date) and it would lessen their liability exposure – it's unlikely that you could successfully sue for a product that's past it's use-by date.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Ah yes Bandersnatch, but who decides the life of a machine, perhaps that should be stated, some people's washing machine may die after 5 years, others with the same machine will still be using it 25 years on. Machines are like people, our life time can end any time from zero, to three score plus ten, and as may years past that as you are lucky to get, there is no guarantee to life.

Ian S C

[Enough!Participant @enough]

Sorry Ian, I think you missed my (tongue-in-cheek) point – it was perhaps a little obscure. Perhaps I could rephrase like this:

Lifetime guarantee: It's guaranteed for the lifetime of the machine. When it fails – whenever that is, be it a day, a week, a year, 10-years – it's dead and its lifetime is over …. and so is the guarantee.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Got some info on solar water heating yesterday, it came with a 25 year life time guarantee.

Ian S C

[NJHParticipant @njh]

" ……..a 25 year life time guarantee."

Well I guess it depends where you are in life – I think I would find a 25 year guarantee sufficient!

Norman

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