4 ms·

One of the perks I remember from working in a grocery store many years ago was free pickings of stuff that was going to be thrown out that was past the expiry.

One of the perks I remember from working in a grocery store many years ago was free pickings of stuff that was going to be thrown out that was past the expiry. Got a lot of free food. Never got sick or had any ill effects once.

londons_explore 8y ago
But is a small chance of dying from eating toxic bacteria worth it? Best before dates act like a 'hard cutoff', but the reality is the risk of eating food is typically an exponential increasing from the time it was made. It just starts from a very low value. Just a single gone-off meal can kill you, so you can't try all that many times and hope to find the limit of survivability.
- neiman 8y ago
  Where is this number, "1 percent" taken from?
- jpatokal 8y ago
  Genuine question: are there any foods that go bad in such a way that you can't see, taste or smell it, but it can kill you anyway? (Emphasis on "go bad": things like listeria were there from the start.)
  - DanBC 8y ago
    Why are you excluding things like listeria or campylobacter? They were there from the start, but the USE BY date takes into account common pathogens and how they multiply in correct household storage.
  - onion2k 8y ago
    If you have a condition that means you'll react very badly to something that would most other people nothing more than an upset stomach, yes. For example, if your immune system is already compromised (from HIV, cancer, etc) something as simple as mild botulism can kill you. About 3000 people die from food poisoning every year in the US.
  - pkaye 8y ago
    Look up chubbyemu channel on YouTube. In particular his pasta episode. He is a doctor.
- benj111 8y ago
  If you bought some milk in date that was lumpy and stank, would you drink it? Conversely if it were one day out of date but smelt and looked fine, would you throw it away? Personally I use use by dates (I don't really check best before dates) as a shopping tool, so I buy thing that will last the time required, then rely on my senses. Canned goods have best before dates on for heavens sake, I'd happily eat a 10 year old can of X, assuming it's none bulging. Cooked rice is the only thing I'm aware of that can kill you after cooking, whilst still appearing ok.
  - DanBC 8y ago
    In this post you confuse "use by" with "best before", even though the difference is clearly described in the linked article. USE BY is product safety information. The risk increases after the use by date. BEST BEFORE is product quality information. There's not much risk but the taste and nutrition will degrade over time.
    - benj111 8y ago
      I didn't confuse. Although I did change from what my parent mentioned. Although it would be nice to have the time to check best befores and use bys of everything I put in my trolley, in practice its basically meat and milk, purely to check that they will last until I want to use them.
- jopsen 8y ago
  Most likely if it's gone bad, it'll taste very bad -- nature is smart that way :) Worst case it'll make you sick.. A regular meal can kill you too.
  - onion2k 8y ago
    Things that have gone bad taste bad on their own, but if you put something bad in a meal that disguises that flavour you're unlikely to notice. It's one of the reasons why hot countries often have spicy, highly flavored foods. Before refrigeration people could use poor quality meat for longer by covering up the taste, and it didn't kill them because lots of spices have anti-bacterial qualities. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861184/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861184/
    - jopsen 8y ago
      You can smell the ingredients before you cook spicy food.. But yeah, it can be masked.
  - jopsen 8y ago
    Side note: I personally follow best-before dates. Not because I have a rational fear -- I might have some irrational fear -- but also it just makes my life simpler. Not having decide if something has gone bad reduces decisions I have to make :)
  - DanBC 8y ago
    It's a bit worrying to see people repeat the incorrect "you can smell it if it's risky" advice. You will be able to smell if food is rotting. USE BY dates aren't just about rotting though, they take into account commonly found bacteria in different food, and correct storage. You won't be able to smell most types of food poisoning bacteria, and the risk of poisoning goes up after the use by date. https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-by-dates https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-b...
    - londons_explore 8y ago
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  "Best before" is mostly meaningless (in Europe). It's an exceedingly pessimistic manufacturer estimate of when the product might look, taste or feel different, not when it may become risky. Chocolate may have developed a little white bloom from the oils separating a little but still be perfectly edible and delicious etc. Many things will keep for months or years after the best before date. One of the most ridiculous ones are eggs which will normally last months - yet have a mandated best before of 28 days. "Use by" are the ones to take note of. Those are the perishables like milk or meat where the bacteria count matters. These are the ones that have been arrived at by food safety testing. Even those are designed to be pessimistic enough to cope with the fact that a huge proportion of fridges are running several degrees higher than recommended, and people will leave things on the side for a few hours etc
- ValentineC 8y ago
  > But is a small chance of dying from eating toxic bacteria worth it? The parent is probably talking about food that's not more than a few days past expiry, since they worked in a grocery store. The risk from not following a mostly-arbitrary date is not much higher if properly stored than say, eating improperly-stored food. A student died eating pasta stored at room temperature for five days: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6638715/20-year-old-American-student-mysteriously-died-sleep-eating-simple-meal.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6638715/20-year-old... Things might have turned out differently if it was stored in the fridge.
  - screye 8y ago
    Won't pasta that's been kept out for 5 days smell very rancid?
grawprog 8y ago
I can't edit the parent any more but...I was mostly referring to dry goods and stuff. Occasionally some yogurt a day or two past. I wasn't unreasonable, I'm aware of the risks of foodborne illness, I was even then. There were only certain things we were allowed to take. It wasn't a free for all. I probably should have made this more clear. We threw a lot more away than we took. Things regularly expired on the shelves.

londons_explore 8y ago

But is a small chance of dying from eating toxic bacteria worth it? Best before dates act like a 'hard cutoff', but the reality is the risk of eating food is typically an exponential increasing from the time it was made. It just starts from a very low value. Just a single gone-off meal can kill you, so you can't try all that many times and hope to find the limit of survivability.

neiman 8y ago
Where is this number, "1 percent" taken from?
jpatokal 8y ago
Genuine question: are there any foods that go bad in such a way that you can't see, taste or smell it, but it can kill you anyway? (Emphasis on "go bad": things like listeria were there from the start.)
- DanBC 8y ago
  Why are you excluding things like listeria or campylobacter? They were there from the start, but the USE BY date takes into account common pathogens and how they multiply in correct household storage.
- onion2k 8y ago
  If you have a condition that means you'll react very badly to something that would most other people nothing more than an upset stomach, yes. For example, if your immune system is already compromised (from HIV, cancer, etc) something as simple as mild botulism can kill you. About 3000 people die from food poisoning every year in the US.
- pkaye 8y ago
  Look up chubbyemu channel on YouTube. In particular his pasta episode. He is a doctor.
benj111 8y ago
If you bought some milk in date that was lumpy and stank, would you drink it? Conversely if it were one day out of date but smelt and looked fine, would you throw it away? Personally I use use by dates (I don't really check best before dates) as a shopping tool, so I buy thing that will last the time required, then rely on my senses. Canned goods have best before dates on for heavens sake, I'd happily eat a 10 year old can of X, assuming it's none bulging. Cooked rice is the only thing I'm aware of that can kill you after cooking, whilst still appearing ok.
- DanBC 8y ago
  In this post you confuse "use by" with "best before", even though the difference is clearly described in the linked article. USE BY is product safety information. The risk increases after the use by date. BEST BEFORE is product quality information. There's not much risk but the taste and nutrition will degrade over time.
  - benj111 8y ago
    I didn't confuse. Although I did change from what my parent mentioned. Although it would be nice to have the time to check best befores and use bys of everything I put in my trolley, in practice its basically meat and milk, purely to check that they will last until I want to use them.
jopsen 8y ago
Most likely if it's gone bad, it'll taste very bad -- nature is smart that way :) Worst case it'll make you sick.. A regular meal can kill you too.
- onion2k 8y ago
  Things that have gone bad taste bad on their own, but if you put something bad in a meal that disguises that flavour you're unlikely to notice. It's one of the reasons why hot countries often have spicy, highly flavored foods. Before refrigeration people could use poor quality meat for longer by covering up the taste, and it didn't kill them because lots of spices have anti-bacterial qualities. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861184/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861184/
  - jopsen 8y ago
    You can smell the ingredients before you cook spicy food.. But yeah, it can be masked.
- jopsen 8y ago
  Side note: I personally follow best-before dates. Not because I have a rational fear -- I might have some irrational fear -- but also it just makes my life simpler. Not having decide if something has gone bad reduces decisions I have to make :)
- DanBC 8y ago
  It's a bit worrying to see people repeat the incorrect "you can smell it if it's risky" advice. You will be able to smell if food is rotting. USE BY dates aren't just about rotting though, they take into account commonly found bacteria in different food, and correct storage. You won't be able to smell most types of food poisoning bacteria, and the risk of poisoning goes up after the use by date. https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-by-dates https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-b...
  - londons_explore 8y ago
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
"Best before" is mostly meaningless (in Europe). It's an exceedingly pessimistic manufacturer estimate of when the product might look, taste or feel different, not when it may become risky. Chocolate may have developed a little white bloom from the oils separating a little but still be perfectly edible and delicious etc. Many things will keep for months or years after the best before date. One of the most ridiculous ones are eggs which will normally last months - yet have a mandated best before of 28 days. "Use by" are the ones to take note of. Those are the perishables like milk or meat where the bacteria count matters. These are the ones that have been arrived at by food safety testing. Even those are designed to be pessimistic enough to cope with the fact that a huge proportion of fridges are running several degrees higher than recommended, and people will leave things on the side for a few hours etc
ValentineC 8y ago
> But is a small chance of dying from eating toxic bacteria worth it? The parent is probably talking about food that's not more than a few days past expiry, since they worked in a grocery store. The risk from not following a mostly-arbitrary date is not much higher if properly stored than say, eating improperly-stored food. A student died eating pasta stored at room temperature for five days: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6638715/20-year-old-American-student-mysteriously-died-sleep-eating-simple-meal.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6638715/20-year-old... Things might have turned out differently if it was stored in the fridge.
- screye 8y ago
  Won't pasta that's been kept out for 5 days smell very rancid?

grawprog 8y ago

I can't edit the parent any more but...I was mostly referring to dry goods and stuff. Occasionally some yogurt a day or two past. I wasn't unreasonable, I'm aware of the risks of foodborne illness, I was even then. There were only certain things we were allowed to take. It wasn't a free for all. I probably should have made this more clear. We threw a lot more away than we took. Things regularly expired on the shelves.