Do you check the expiration dates of food products before you buy? With canned goods, it is important that the expiration is at least a month to go. But take note of bread which has a short shelf life - expiry dates are just a few days and sometimes there is a mistake in the numbers. We had once bought a loaf of sliced bread that is not expired according to the label but the texture was otherwise, it was obviously expired maybe because there was a mistake or an anomaly in the labeling.
On most cans in the UK there are production dates and expiration dates so you do have to check both. Most stores won't sell items with a short date, but discount stores will. In these you have to check carefully as often the expiration date is a week or a month. My parents taught me this from an early age, so I do it without thinking and if there is no date I won't buy it.
I always make it a point to look at the expiration dates of items I buy, especially when it comes to food items. I am also very particular when it comes to the expiration date of breads as they do have a short shelf life as what you said. Just like what @Theo said, I also don't buy anything that has no date on it, whether a manufacturing or expiration date.
Its not foolproof to check the expiry dates of food items since they can be changed by stores especially if they are fast moving consumer goods. Its always good to shop where you can place your trust. Some of the expired products are cleared as a sale and some are not badly off for use with a bit of refrigeration. However, its prudent to check the expiry dates of some perishable items since they might have health implications if they are not used fast.
I normally check the expiration dates of fresh products I buy and choose the item with the furthest out date. Grocery stores always stock from the back and put the older items at the front of the shelf. I normally grab the item from the back of the shelf to make sure it is good. Canned goods and boxed products can last month's beyond their expiration date and so I don't worry about them as much.
I agree. Always check the expiration dates on food. With milk and bread, I will reach to the back of the shelf to be sure and get fresh. I don't usually check canned goods though. I need to make a note to do this. Checking the expiration date is an important to make sure your food is fresh.
I always check my dates on can foods that I get from discount type stores, other then that I don't really check dates until I use them. Can food here have such a long shelf life that I hardly have anything that goes expired. With milk I check and try to get the farthest away date I can. Bread I have never really had a problem but I also buy it on sale and freeze a few loaves. Meat, well I always buy discounted meat and either cook it or freeze it right away.
When it comes to food dates, I generally do it when I'm abouy to purchase drinks such as orange juice, milk and that sort of drink that always tend to expire really fast, however, I do not really care about epiry dates of any other stuff since it's a weird thing to find nowadays.
Sometimes I might avoid cheaper chicken cause it might be bad. However, I don't check the expiration date on other stuff. However, I do think it's important to get rid of older stuff in the fridge. Sometimes my elderly mom forgets to do throw away old stuff due to her failing memory. Nonetheless, eating old stuff could be dangerous as well as leaving a bad taste or just being generally unhealthy.
I am particular with expiry date when I am buying foods or food items. I know there are stuffs like bread, cakes whose expiry date may just be one or two days away, I like get the freshly prepared if I am going for these foods especially bread. For canned foods I think at least one month to the expiration is okay to be considered before buying.
Expiration dates don't always mean that the product expires that day. It's just a date of precaution. I would stay away from dairy or loafs of bread when purchasing close to expired products. Products such as cookies or salty snacks, though can be a very great purchase if you buy them a few days before the expiration date because those products tend to be heavily discounted.
Misrepresentation about the product basic info is against the law of Consumer's Act in our place. When there is an error in the labeling the expiry date of that bread which by nature should be consumed not more than a week, the maker of the bread should be sued. Consumer's health is at stake for such gross negligence of the producer.
The Bureau of Food And Drugs here has issued a directive recently regarding expiration dates of food. Right now the marking says "best before" which is misleading according to the Bureau. The marking is now being changed to "expiration date" which means after that date the food item is not fit to be eaten anymore.
I am very particular about this. You can see that in most of the products that offer discounts or free items the expiry dates would be nearing soon. In items like bread or cakes which have shorter shelf life it is very important to check the dates as after some time they become poisonous. @Alexandoy I also wonder why they mark it as "best before" which gives a wrong message to buyer that the product is still consumable after the expiry date. In super markets they often place the products nearing the expiry date in the first row for a better visibility.
Checkng the expiration date is a must for me before I make any purchases. I have bought bread and milk close to expiration dates in the past and would have to throw them away the next day just for not checking for dates, they were not discounted but I think they were just not removed from the shelves. I have not had a bad experience with faulty dates labels just yet and I hope I never do.
I check expiration dates. If it is someone I am going to freeze or cook that day then I don't mind getting something with a short date. If it is something I want to store, especially with fresh food, I'll get one with an expiry date as far ahead as possible. I also tend to check through the packaging to see if the food inside still looks good. There have been cases of food well inside its Use By date that I definitely would not eat!
