I shall fear no weevils! - John C. Kirk — LiveJournal
Jan. 24th, 2009
07:57 pm - I shall fear no weevils!
I've been digging through my cupboards, and found various food items that have gone past their "Best before" date, so I'm wondering whether I should chuck them away. On the one hand, this just sounds like a recommendation, as opposed to "Use by" (which sounds like an order). On the other hand, if I've missed the deadline by two years then that seems a bit excessive. So, time to seek the wisdom of the Hivemind with a poll:
Plain flour (B/B Jan 2007)
Yes
5(83.3%)
No
1(16.7%)
Plain flour (B/B Apr 2007)
Yes
5(83.3%)
No
1(16.7%)
Mincemeat (B/B Apr 2008)
Yes
4(66.7%)
No
2(33.3%)
Mincemeat (B/B May 2008)
Yes
4(66.7%)
No
2(33.3%)
Angel Delight (B/B Apr 2008)
Yes
5(83.3%)
No
1(16.7%)
Breadcrumbs (B/B Nov 2007)
Yes
2(33.3%)
No
4(66.7%)
Breadcrumbs (B/B May 2008)
Yes
4(66.7%)
No
2(33.3%)
Oxo cubes (B/B May 2008)
Yes
4(66.7%)
No
2(33.3%)
Nuts and raisins (B/B Oct 2008)
Yes
6(100.0%)
No
0(0.0%)
Honey (B/B Sep 2007)
Yes
5(83.3%)
No
1(16.7%)
Honey (B/B end 2008)
Yes
6(100.0%)
No
0(0.0%)
I did a similar exercise in September 2007, so I'm not sure why I didn't notice the flour at that point (since it was already overdue). I also have some yeast (B/B Oct 2008), and the general advice last time was "It won't do any harm, but it probably won't make bread rise either", so I'll chuck that away.
The mincemeat is the type you use in mince pies (left over from the Pie Off in August 2006), not actual meat.
The honey from Sep 2007 is supposed to be the clear type, but it's crystallised so it's probably not going to taste very good. The one from "end 2008" should be ok, since I've only just missed the deadline and haven't opened the jar yet. I also have another jar without a date; that's the solid kind, so hopefully it will be a bit more resilient.
I've eaten some of the nuts and raisins recently, and they seem ok, although they're a bit dry.
As a related issue, I have a few bags of sugar without any dates on them, so I'm assuming that it never goes off; does that sound reasonable?
Sam