body

Waste Not Want Not - Best before and Use by dates

BEST BEFORE DATES
& USE BY DATES
 


I really wanted an egg salad wrap when I got home from work last night. When I went to get the egg box from the fridge, I noticed the Best before date was for 2 days earlier.  Not the best planning for my aim of reducing food waste. 
 
 
First thing I did was check to see if they were still good to eat.  I filled a jug full of cold water, then placed the egg in. 
 
 
Sinks:  If the Egg sinks and lays on the bottom of the just its still okay to eat
 
Half & Half:  If one end of the egg tilts slightly upwards, it's not at its peak for taste.  However its still safe to eat if cook thoroughly. 
 
Floats:  If the egg floats, or eggs up pointing totally vertically upwards.  Not Safe to eat.


 
Eggs can be eaten after their "best before" date as long as they are cooked thoroughly until both yolk and white are solid, or if they are used in dishes where they will be fully cooked such as a cake.
 
 
Checking Eggs are still good - To check eggs click on this link.  This is how I check my eggs are still okay to eat. 

 
It reminded me that date labelling on food products can be really confusing.  However been label savvy is a great way to reduce your food waste.  Too many people throw out food that is still perfectly safe to eat. 
 
 
Use by and best before date are 2 different things.
 
Use by:
 
Is used on foods that go off quickly and where it can prove dangerous to your heath if eaten after the used by date. 
 
If you buy anything with a same day use by date, check to see if it can be frozen.  Also how long it can be frozen for. 
 
Always follow the packaging advise on storage and cooking guidelines. 
 
Food poisoning is not fun!!!!  Been there, done that....  Now left with IBS & food intolerances

 :- Following a Waste Not, Want Not principle is not worth putting your health at risk. 
 
 
 
Best before Date:
 
Refers to quality rather than safety. The food will no longer be at its best for taste.  There found on a wide range of foods from Frozen food, dried food, tinned food and packaged foods. 
 
 
Display until or sell by dates:
 
Ignore these dates and look for either the Best before or use by date.  Display or sell by dates are instructions for shop staff only. 
 
 
Waste Not, want not
 
One of the best ways of reducing food waste is to follow the storage information on the packaging. 
 
Also Copy the supermarkets own trick of stock rotation.  The items in your fridge or store cupboards with the longest best before or use by date, should be kept at the back of the shelves.  While the items with the closest date are kept at the front.

Top Tip:
 
If I want to buy my favourite dairy free yogurt or hummus, I always check the back of the shelf for the one with the longest date.  Iv been caught to many times paying full price for a product only to find I need to Use it by the next day. 
 
 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How not to make a pineapple upside down cake

Image
My personal philosophy is that you should try to look for the positive in every situation.  - If you never try something, how are you going to know if it works?  - While mistakes are just ways too learn how not to do something.  So I thought Id share with you a few ways Iv learnt how to not make an upside down cake.   Thursday at the Pantry I  made a Pineapple Upside down cake for lunch.  Since it was for the canteen, it was a full dairy version.   Another dessert I couldn't eat, and I so wanted a piece.  We used a ceramic oven dish to bake the cake in.  Which leads me to the first mistake.  Last year I made a dairy free version at home, and used a loose bottom cake tin.  Not one of my better idea's, since the syrup seeped out of the tin all over my oven.  - Always use a solid baking tin or pan.  If you do use a loose bottom tin, wrapped tin foil round it to stop the syrup seeping out.  Also place the tin on a baking tray, just in case anything does le
Read more

Scottish Tablet - Dairy free & Vegan

Image
          Less well know than Haggis, tablet is another traditional Scottish food that's a whole lot sweeter.   Scottish Tablet - wiki    One of our regular customers at work dropped off some home made Tablet for us this week.  As always everyone but me could eat it, so I took a piece home for my mum instead.  It got me thinking that there must be some way to make it dairy free.   Shop bought packaged Scottish tablet is never as good as homemade.  As a child growing up in Scotland, I have fond memories of the sweet.  It was sold at cake and bake sales, and if you were really lucky the little corner shop would have a regular supplier.  It was always wrapped into portions with greaseproof paper, that way you knew it was authentic.        Scottish Tablet recipe     Traditional Scottish tablet is not exactly dairy free.  Usually I can use a free from substitute's, however the only recipe I knew was made with Condensed milk.  So Iv kind of giv
Read more

Curdled Rice pudding

Image
What it should have looked like..... Due to a touch of nostalgia I decided to make some rice pudding today.  Also it mean't I'd have a pre-made breakfast for tomorrow morning and 15 mins more in bed.  Cold porridge just doesn't taste as good as cold creamy rice pudding. For me rice pudding has to be baked in the oven as that's the way my mum taught me to make it.  It was also one of the first recipes I was able to make dairy free.    Basic rice pudding constists of 3 simple ingredients  1 1/2 oz Rice 1 pint Milk  1tbsp Sugar Baked at 150 celsius for 1 1/2hrs - 2 hrs Something magical seems to happen to them, when cooked for a few hours in a low oven.  Only not this time because I decided to add some extra ingredients!!! One of which managed to react with the soy milk and curdle it.  Suspects are Mixed raisins, diced almonds or desiccated coconut.  I was able to save it and make it edible by adding some Bird's Custard powder, co
Read more