Out-Of-Date Food Mountain

[St Landrew]

What is it with the Great British public..? Everyday, I see examples that lead me to believe that we're all a nation of sheep. I know Britain's people are generally well behaved, and non-complaining, but is this due to them being tolerant or generally bloody dense..?

 

I've heard before that we waste an awful lot of food, but I didn't realise just how much: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8326756.stm

 

It appears a significant percentage of the population throw away food after it has passed its best-before-date. Note, not its sell-by-date, or use-by-date [i use my own criteria, in any case]. This means that they are throwing away perfectly good food that, if left on a kitchen counter, will be past a certain best condition, but perfectly edible or drinkable.

 

Don't people have brains in their heads anymore..? What happened to common sense or judgement..? The report [see link] refers to how people don't seem to have time to make decisions over food, so just throw it out. I'm sorry, but that is utter rubbish. It takes a few seconds to make a decision, if you know what the parameters are. Get informed, save money, food and resources.

Edited 10 November, 2009 by St Landrew

[Ponty]

I only buy a day or two's shopping at a time, from my local shop, so at least this is something non-green that I'm not guilty of. For once.

[Johnny Shearer]

Its never bothered me if I eat something a day or two past its 'out-of-date' warning. Unless its milk or yogurt.

 

Although when ketchup starts having a fizzy twang to it, it needs to be chucked!

[St Landrew]

Its never bothered me if I eat something a day or two past its 'out-of-date' warning. Unless its milk or yogurt.

 

Although when ketchup starts having a fizzy twang to it, it needs to be chucked!

 

I know that one. As you say, chuck out time. But that's a very loooong way after the use-by-date.

 

Come on, who's going to admit they throw food out without making their own judgement on it, but just look at the label..?

[skintsaint]

My missus used to throw out food if it passed the best before date. Used to annoy me a lot as its throwing money down the drain. A few slaps and it sorted her out, she happily eats the food after the best before date these days.

[dune]

I must confess i do love the reduced to clear shelves.

 

And i never go by use by dates and trust my nose to see if food is off.

 

I've never been ill through food poisoing, on the contrary i believe eating food close to turning is good for you as it keeps the immune system working.

 

The biggest problem with todays society is that so many live in a sterile bubble that they let their immune systems become suseptable to germs.

[Barney Trubble]

I don't throw much away St.Landrew.

 

In fact, I am the opposite and hate to throw food away. Last month I found some Salmon pate at the back of the fridge, it had been opened and there was some of that green furry stuff at the one end of the jar [Penicillen?], I just got the knife and scooped out the furry green stuff and made some sandwiches for work out of the remainder.

 

I was not sick after eating and it tasted lovely.

 

I think 'best before' dates are another tool to mislead us into pointless waste as the manufacturers are well aware of peoples fears and ignorance when it comes these issues. They are well aware that people will see a date and throw it away out of fear.

 

Isn't that what we have senses for? Surely common sense would tell us that if it smells like it shouldn't smell then it may not be edible.

 

Right, off to check if I can find anything in the fridge for my lunch.

[dubai_phil]

Ah the Agriculture Industry lobby and Government of the Masses by instilling fear.

 

The reason you throw so much away is that you are "brainwashed" into believing you would be a mass murderer creating some e-Coli outbreak if you ate a piece of Pate one day past it's display date.

 

And WHY does this happen? Because of course, the more food you throw away the more they get to sell to you.

 

Down here many things are really expensive - Iceland's one pound sausages are a luxury item and cost around five pounds a packet (it's the shipping you know)

 

So we cruise the stores and buy the stuff a day or so before display until and Voila, it's reduced to the same price as back home.

 

At the end of the day, the fear factor is why so much of the planet's meagre resources are thrown away every day.

 

Next up you'll be moaning there's no meat or veg in many supermarket pre-packed meals...

[bridge too far]

I cut mould off bread and use it for toasting. I also make stale bread into breadcrumbs or bread pudding.

 

I rely on my nose to tell me if milk is still useable.

 

A bit of bacteria never did anyone any harm.

[Amesbury Saint]

in todays world people need to realise more that waste needs to be reduced and can save money.

everything can be used up, and I think there was a website on the last gadget show which found recipies using your leftovers.

The problem is nowerdays is that everything can be bought whenever so no need for planning and effiency

[Sheaf Saint]

I read some statistics a while back about just how much food gets thrown out in this country every day, and it's enough to make you despair for the human race that we can throw away so much food when there are people in the world who cannot feed themselves due to shortages. The worst culprits are the supermarkets. If a piece of fruit or veg looks a funny shape then they will chuck it out rather than put it on sale as it will 'spoil the display' if they do.

 

I find this utterly despicable that we can generate so much waste, but then we do now live in a throwaway society. There was a time when if your TV was broken you would take it to the nearest electronics repair shop and get it fixed, but these days it is just so much easier and cheaper to chuck it out and buy a new one.

[Sheaf Saint]

Here is the link to the report I was on about. Shocking stuff.

[St Landrew]

I read some statistics a while back about just how much food gets thrown out in this country every day, and it's enough to make you despair for the human race that we can throw away so much food when there are people in the world who cannot feed themselves due to shortages. The worst culprits are the supermarkets. If a piece of fruit or veg looks a funny shape then they will chuck it out rather than put it on sale as it will 'spoil the display' if they do.

 

I find this utterly despicable that we can generate so much waste, but then we do now live in a throwaway society. There was a time when if your TV was broken you would take it to the nearest electronics repair shop and get it fixed, but these days it is just so much easier and cheaper to chuck it out and buy a new one.

 

Quite right. And we are hurtling into a future where we will need to be resourceful, and many people are forgetting how to be. And in just a few short generations too.

 

Strange isn't it..? How we are supposed to remember the dead in the World Wars, but we don't remember for a second how the living coped. I suggest we remember.

[Junction 9]

What stuff has sell by and what stuff has use by then?

 

I always assumed when looking at a date on anything that that was the date you could safely consume it by. Why would I want to know when it can be sold by?

[Johnny Shearer]

What stuff has sell by and what stuff has use by then?

 

I always assumed when looking at a date on anything that that was the date you could safely consume it by. Why would I want to know when it can be sold by?

 

Bread has both along with packaged fruits I believe.

 

Mostly down to the an item's freshness there hence why the supermarkets distinguish goods that way.

 

Have to agree with Bexy on the supermarket front. The sad thing is this didnt even occur to me until recently when a family friend gave us some cucumbers which were massive and distorted looking. I didn't recognise it was a cucumber until he told me.

 

Same with eggs, lady at work sells them as she has hens and its great to get a variety of sizes/colours all in one box.

 

Although I presume and hope that farmers are able to sell 'non-standard' food to food/catering companies and restaurants etc.

Edited 10 November, 2009 by Johnny Shearer

[St Landrew]

What stuff has sell by and what stuff has use by then?

 

I always assumed when looking at a date on anything that that was the date you could safely consume it by. Why would I want to know when it can be sold by?

 

There are very clear words and dates which say:

 

Best Before --/--/----

 

Sell By --/--/----

 

Use By--/--/----

 

While reading Bexy's link, I noted in the text that the Use By date is the one that ALL PEOPLE MUST ADHERE TO. Well, I'm f***** if I will. I'll use my own good sense to know when something can't be eaten, even if it is well past the Use By date. An example is Greek Yoghurt, which actually can have a surprisingly long shelf life in the fridge. But according to the Use By date, it is always much less.

 

Not so. Use your wits. If it looks bad, smells bad, it almost always is bad, and almost always not before those signs emerge. I mean, it's not as if we are trying to separate poisonous from edible mushrooms. In that case, you need to know your onions, I mean, mushrooms.

[Johnny Shearer]

Not so. Use your wits. If it looks bad, smells bad, it almost always is bad, and almost always not before those signs emerge. I mean, it's not as if we are trying to separate poisonous from edible mushrooms. In that case, you need to know your onions, I mean, mushrooms.

 

Yep when you peel onions open and cut them in half and they smell and are brown on the inside I wouldn't eat them!

[Spudders]

I'll use my own good sense to know when something can't be eaten, even if it is well past the Use By date. An example is Greek Yoghurt, which actually can have a surprisingly long shelf life in the fridge. But according to the Use By date, it is always much less.

 

Not so. Use your wits. If it looks bad, smells bad, it almost always is bad, and almost always not before those signs emerge. I mean, it's not as if we are trying to separate poisonous from edible mushrooms. In that case, you need to know your onions, I mean, mushrooms.

 

Spot on. Whatever happened to common sense? I often eat things way past it's use by date, as St Landrew says, you can easily tell by what something looks and smells like

[Thedelldays]

Food lasts well after the advertised sell by/used by dates. If it is stored properly

[John Boy Saint]

My Missus works in the local supermarket she has worked there for 15 years since the kids have been little, she invariably works Christmas Eve and every year she comes home a lunchtime with tales of the siege mentality buying of everything in sight from the customers as the shop will be closed for 2 days. If she has worked the 1st day back she will come home with tales of people that she saw on Christmas Eve with 2 trolleys pushing another trolley brim full of food 2 days later; New years Eve those same people are in with 2 more trolleys full of food for the shop being closed for 1 day.

How much of that goes in the bin.

[Guest Dark Sotonic Mills]

My Missus works in the local supermarket she has worked there for 15 years since the kids have been little, she invariably works Christmas Eve and every year she comes home a lunchtime with tales of the siege mentality buying of everything in sight from the customers as the shop will be closed for 2 days. If she has worked the 1st day back she will come home with tales of people that she saw on Christmas Eve with 2 trolleys pushing another trolley brim full of food 2 days later; New years Eve those same people are in with 2 more trolleys full of food for the shop being closed for 1 day.

How much of that goes in the bin.

 

It's always been a subject of ridicule in my family how people shopping on Christmas Eve always seem to have trolleys full of bread and milk. Why? Are they planning on making the world's largest bread and butter pudding on Boxing Day just for a wheeze?

Morons.

[Thedelldays]

I worked at tesco for two years when I was 16-18 an it was funny. Every Easter and Xmas people would go mental. The shop would be shut for a maximum if 1-2 days. And everything gets bought in sight. Madness. And the queue for the petrol station would go around the car park.

 

Why are people this savage ?

Edited 10 November, 2009 by Thedelldays

[Thedelldays]

I don take the whole plastic bag/recycling thing seriously

 

if the government were serious then younwould no see utterly pointless packaging on so many items in supermarkets

[St Landrew]

I don take the whole plastic bag/recycling thing seriously

 

if the government were serious then younwould no see utterly pointless packaging on so many items in supermarkets

 

But TDDs, AdrianSFC said it just above you. You have to make a start somewhere, even though most of it seems like p!ssing in the wind. Let's start by buying and consuming food responsibly, and not wasting it. Is that so difficult..?

 

You can still buy too many pints of beer, bottles of wine and spirits. Just drink what you pour into your glass..! :smt030

[norwaysaint]

Depends what it is. Anything hermetically sealed or dry isn't going to do too much harm, but I often chuck out dairy products because I've had to many bad experiences with gulping down a load of milk, then getting that great taste of rotten dairy as the coldness fades and the flavour comes through. I've got a poor sense of smell, so I just go by the date on those.

Eggs seem to last weeks after the given date though, especially here, where we don't have salmonella.

[bungle]

I don take the whole plastic bag/recycling thing seriously

 

if the government were serious then younwould no see utterly pointless packaging on so many items in supermarkets

 

I think Delldays sums it up though. How can he and many others be expected to take it seriously when the Government doesn't seem that interested? They should have strict laws on packaging and IMO should ban plastic bags. Then Delldays, myself and many others would take it seriously too.

 

Some would moan, but I swear after a short period of time it would result in us all bringing bags with us that never broke and were far more comfortable to carry!

 

But how many people complain when the government "tells them to do something"?!

 

Edit: To answer the original post, throwing out food is a complete waste. I barely through out anything. My housemate, on the other hand, is f*cking useless and throws out loads. He was even trying to throw out some chilli I'd saved and put in the fridge!

[Thedelldays]

Bungle. The government would not be telling me. They would be telling the supermarkets and food suppliers

 

to me, it seems the powers at be are really only interested in being green if they can get some money out of it.

[St Landrew]

I think we have become a nation of people who are constantly being told what to do, or are being so well informed that people are actually being turned off. Gone are the days when someone could legitimately say, I don't know, because there's invariably some good advice somewhere if you just can be bothered to Google for it. I suppose that gives the non-internet users an excuse, but it is sheer laziness if people don't know or won't find out about everyday things, such as how to buy and make the most of food without huge wastage.

 

Yes, there are contributors to this forum who will say they waste as much as they want, and don't give a monkey's about it. Well, they are the major losers with their belligerent ignorance, but it inevitably costs us all.

 

As TDD says, the Govt would do better to inform the manufacturers, supermarkets and other shops to cut down on the packaging where possible. Then we consumers would have less to throw away, and may do so more willingly, encouraged by the fact that we are not alone doing our bit.

 

Have a look at this video. It's a clip from The Day The Universe Changed, and was made by the BBC back in the mid-80's. I found it very much registered with my thinking at the time, and I still occasionally refer to it, like now. This is from the episode, Credit Where's It's Due, and deals with industrial expansion and the working society upto the mid-80's. In terms of consumption, I would say we are worse off today than back then, despite our so-called awareness.

Although the clip is just over 7 minutes long, there's no point in starting from the beginning, as you may as well start from the beginning of the programme itself. Have a go from about 4.00 minutes in and watch the writer and presenter, James Burke's summary.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jjg3kb2bps

 

What he was saying back then, the average person was blindly oblivious to, IMO. I have to say that my confused concerns about resource consumption were jarred into focus by his words.