London - While we have all sniffed food to check whether it has gone off, it’s sometimes difficult to know which produce can be safely consumed after its use-by date.
Whether it’s chocolate that has developed a whitish bloom or bread that has gone slightly mouldy, it’s confusing as to whether something is okay to eat or whether it needs to be binned.
The use-by date means food has to be eaten by that time, otherwise it can cause you to be unwell.
However, when it comes to best before dates, it’s a different story, with much produce safe to consume for sometimes weeks after this timeline.
Investigative food journalist Joanna Blythman says use-by dates are part of our modern food distribution. Supermarkets like to promote the concept of the weekly shop. “In this culture of stocking up for several days ahead, an illusion of freshness is provided by vast, high-tech fridges.
How can we be certain what is safe to eat?
“Foods which are very salty, for instance, are generally safe to eat. A good example of this is pickles, which, because they are preserved in vinegar, are safe to consume long after the date on the jar,” Blythman said.
“The same rule applies to sugary foods such as honey or jam. Using large amounts of sugar is an effective method of preservation, which is the reason that very sweet products like fruitcake and fudge can be eaten well past their use by dates.”
According to Blythman, fermented food such as German sauerkraut and Korean kimchi are safe as these are preserved through salting, curing or drying.
She also said that hard cheeses, such as cheddar, were safe to eat after their use-by dates.
“Even if it’s turned mouldy on the outside, the exterior can just be cut off and the interior consumed. The same principle applies to bread,” she said.
The same, however, is not true of soft cheeses like brie or camembert, which can foster harmful bacteria once they have lost their freshness.
And surprisingly, use-by dates are not too much of a worry with eggs. “They can still be used in a sponge cake or hard-boiled in a salad long after the benchmark has been passed, though they should not be eaten scrambled, fried or soft-boiled,” she said.
“In the same vein, sour milk makes great pancakes. The act of cooking the milk will kill off any harmful bacteria.”
However she advised to steer clear of consuming meats after their use-by dates.
“Poultry and pork are by far the biggest sources of food poisoning, a problem worsened by factory farming methods that spread contamination.”
And while it may seem counterintuitive to cook meat such as steak when it’s past its use-by date, the current trend for dry aged steak (hung for up to 120 days) sees connoisseurs paying over the odds for consuming essentially what is mouldy meat.
“Thoroughly cooking any product will destroy most bacteria, as they cannot survive extreme heat,” Blythman said. “For example, where meat has darkened because of exposure to air, it needn’t be binned. Just cook it at a high heat and it should be absolutely fine.’
However, she does have a word of warning. “Despite what some people think, washing meat under a tap makes no difference to the bacteria contained within. Indeed, it can even be positively counter-productive, by spreading that bacteria to the kitchen sink, surfaces and cloths.”
Daily Mail