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Can we eat out-of-date food?

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Can we eat out-of-date food?
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With a growing awareness of unnecessary waste, an increasing number of British people are turning towards products that are close to their expiry date.  Start-up companies, like TooGoodToGo and FloodCloud have even launched mobile applications to help consumers locate supermarkets and restaurants which are giving away or selling cheaply unsold products which will otherwise go to waste. These types of initiatives are seeing a growing trend at a time when on average every householder throws away almost 20 kilos of food each year.  But what exactly are the risks of eating out-of-date food?  Are some products dangerous to eat if they are past their expiry date?  Here are all the answers!    

Food poisoning should be taken seriously.  Yet the risk of falling ill is often rare and over exaggerated.  Nevertheless, it is important to know when it is okay to consume out-of-date food products and when it is not so that your can stay well clear of digestive difficulties and more serious illnesses.

Always follow the expiry date for raw or cold meats and fish

When you buy vacuum packed meat, fish or cold meats make sure you follow the expiry date before your decide to eat it.  Minced meat should be eaten at least 24 hours after buying it as it has been touched with equipment that can increase the risk of contamination.

Should we follow the best before dates on eggs?

If you are used to keeping eggs in the fridge, it is in fact better to keep eggs at room temperature.  The shell becomes more fragile if we handle them too often that it can increase the likelihood of contamination.

Eggs can be eaten 28 days after the date they were laid.  You can follow some simple methods to quickly find out if your eggs are still fresh enough to eat.

oeufs en neige
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Pasta, rice and condiments never go out of date

You can keep pasta, rice, flour, salt, sugar and spices for years without having to worry.  You can also use sauces like ketchup, mayonnaise or mustard several weeks after the expiration date if they haven’t been opened. If the jar or tub has been opened and is kept in the fridge you can keep ketchup for 6 months, mayonnaise for 2 – 3 weeks and mustard will stay okay for up to a year. 

Some shops sell dried biscuits at cut-down prices which have past their sell by date.  You can eat these biscuits without any worry for your health, however they will have simply just lost a bit of their flavour.

You can make soups and compotes with withered fruit and vegetables

So that you can get the most out of your fruit and vegetables that are getting a bit withered or bruised, cook with them!  You can make soups, ratatouille, gratin, compotes and jams.  There are multiple dishes that can be made from fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season.

You can also read: Why choose seasonal fruit and vegetables?

You can conserve some daily products for up to a couple of weeks

You can drink UHT milk several weeks after the best before date as long as it hasn’t been opened.  The only issue is that it will have lost some of it’s nutrient benefits.  Opened milk which is stored in the fridge can be kept for a few days.

You can also read: 5 alternatives to dairy products

Yogurts and cottage cheese can be kept in the fridge after their best before date for up to two weeks.   However you have to eat flans and cream based desserts which contain butter quite quickly.   There isn’t any real risk of getting food poisoning however the mixture of the ingredients after a few weeks won’t taste very nice.

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