Posted on 12/04/2017 10:48:37 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Hurrah for the Co-Op! I’m no fan of supermarkets, but I’m delighted by its decision to introduce a ‘10p aisle’ to sell food that is past its ‘Best Before’ date in a determined effort to reduce waste.
The Co-Op isn’t known as an innovator, so it has stolen a march on Tesco and Sainsbury’s with an initiative that means a selection of products — tinned goods, dried foods etc — will stay on sale for one month after their ‘Best Before’.
I believe this is perfectly timed to take advantage of the public’s desire for a return to common sense when it comes to what we consume and an end to the needless binning of perfectly good food.
The average shopper spends — wastes — up to £60 a month on fruit, veg, bread and other perishables that will be thrown away because of spurious ‘Best Before’ dates. Worldwide, around 1.3 billion tons of food is dumped annually. This is madness — just as it’s crazy that British food banks and charities won’t accept food after its ‘Best Before’ date.
The reality is that supermarkets have groomed us, the food shopping public, to expect sanitised perfection. I feel especially sorry for younger generations brought up to think that ‘fresh’ food comes in a box or a plastic pot and that ‘Best Before’ dates must be religiously adhered to.
After the terrifying food safety lessons they had at school, many youngsters are scared of food in its raw state, whether it’s meat on a butcher’s slab or unpackaged salads in a market.
And if a piece of fruit is blemished, or a vegetable is wonky, they reject it.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Plain, I see your point.
But when they’re cooked into a hearty soup, with plenty of ham and potatoes and carrots — not too bad.
Also, I’m very found of Mattar Paneer, which is an Indian curry of peas in a spicy sauce with chunks of tofu-like cheese. Much better than it sounds, if prepared right.
Yeah, this expiration date thing has been more than somewhat oversold. I opened a jar of bruschetta topping the other day that I had been saving for a special occasion. I made short work of it on toasted flat bread. Only after savoring all the Mediterranean goodness did I notice that the jar said “best by July 2014.”
Such happy results notwithstanding, I do occasionally find a bulged can in my overstocked pantry. No way to save any of those.
Bfl
These pickles are 2 weeks old!
My favorite is dry aged cheese like Romano.
$12 a wedge, then they mark it don to $2.99 because it’s getting old.
It was in a cave for 2 years BEFORE you put it on the shelf!
My favorite is dry aged cheese like Romano.
$12 a wedge, then they mark it don to $2.99 because it’s getting old.
It was in a cave for 2 years BEFORE you put it on the shelf!
My favorite was once finding salt with a “sell by” date. Salt! I kid you not.
Finally, some common sense.
LOL!!!
Lol. That actually made me chuckle out loud.
They are in America, too. It’s an English word we share, not a British word.
Most gardeners and farmers know what a pulses are. Many plant forage or cover crops in pulses.
Haggis and gift fruitcakes should be labeled,
“Best used before the Apocalypse.”
Or should that read after...?
I grow my own. Fresh harvested and boiled lightly when they’re young they are excellent, like the difference between just picked corn on the cob verses canned.
Also, most varieties canned or sold frozen are bred for their robustness to processing rather than flavor.
The only issue is they are a lot of work to get out of the pods. A brown paper grocery bag worth of pods yields one large bowl of peas. And after you pick them, they’ll still change their sugars into starch, so for best flavor you’ve got to be quick.
You don't want to be outofsalt!
My parents retired and moved back to the family homestead in 1995. In the basement root cellar Mom found shelves of stuff Grandma had canned, so she emptied the jars to do her own canning. She said everything looked and smelled perfectly fine. Grandma died in 1949.
Maybe past the sell by date, but not infinite. My mom stocked up for Y2K (I told her it wasn’t going to be a big deal, but what did I know?). The jarred spaghetti sauce eventually got white furries a few years in. She ate a lot of peanut butter and tuna for a while.
In Vietnam I at C’s made in the mid 40’s, over 20 years old. I learned if canned food is kept dry, out of the sun in a relatively cool place it will last decades.
I also recall someone bringing to the surface canned peaches from some 1800’s era river boat, open them up, and they were good.
The biggest joke is expiration dates on water. I recall a missile alert crew (the button pushers that live underground) had canned water from the 50’s and wanted it tested for safety. It was just as good as the day it was canned.
“...but nobody can quite figure out what it is...”
Gut pile?
Thanks for that link. I can’t wait to print it out and show it to my wife, who is utterly insistent that food is in edible past the use-by date. The waste of money and perfectly good food aggravates the hell out of me, and maybe this will help to change her mind.
Repeating myself; Couple months ago I found a can of Margaret Holmes field peas that had been pushed way back in my cupboard. The expiration date was 2001.
I simmered them for about 20 minutes (as I always do for this variety/brand) with a pork neck bone I had smoked and they were delicious.
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