I Love Food Part 3
I think this experiment has gone to extremes but makes a valid point.
I think it's interesting and ties in with earlier posts I have made about food wastage and the throwing out of food. Which costs money and possibly means not enjoying food that you might've enjoyed and unless you are a large family that can polish off something in one or two sittings, it often means if you are single or only a two person family you have to make a decision that some food will have to be wasted(but at least you get to enjoy some of it)or not to buy or do without in the first place.
Thankfully, I manage to buy foods that are well ahead of the use by or sell by dates and manage to plan to some extent what I will use the night before(because they have to be defrosted overnight)or that I can cook fresh or from frozen.
Most of the items I do not use in time are few and if I think it's going to happen, the birds in my garden benefit.
Since full recycling came in my wheelie bin is lucky to have half a bin of rubbish even after 2 weeks(I probably could go a month)and that will not be food related.
However, I am of the opinion in many cases food can be eaten up to and beyond the dates that manufacturer's put on their products(if the item is stored correctly)at the right temperatures in a fridge/freezer.
If you have bought some freshly prepared cabbage/spring green and leeks)shredded and you've not used it on the date on the packet and it's not been opened and is not wilting or going brown, I do not believe that you cannot use it the next day. If you have a sense of smell, that's one way to check if it's OK to eat and another way is to look.
And of course finally, taste.
I also sometimes purchase in bulk for cost reasons and there's no way I can eat 5 chicken breasts in one sitting or wish to at every meal. Often an instruction is attached saying once opened they have to be used immediately. But commonsense says if they have been frozen I can take one or two portions out of the packet and put the rest into freezer bags. And use them another day.
Besides, the important thing as much as anything is to make certain that what you cook is cooked thoroughly and to be sure, do it a little bit longer than the instructions suggest. I always do that.
I have added a link to a Government Agency site that offers information how to avoid waste, use leftovers and revitalise food that has gone "limp" at the end of this blog entry.
To some extent I am all for being careful where food and health are concerned(Food poisoning can be a killer)and I can also appreciate in this day and age food manufacturer's have to be careful of being caught up in legal complications but Health and Safety has probably gone too far.
And having medical problems I'm probably a person that should be extra careful.
A good friend has reminded me that some items(usually alchololic)improve with age and how do we know as that can take years to find out. I also seem to remember when food was first sealed in a can(if done correctly)there have been cases where up on opening, the contents have been ediable (decades after being canned)so storage would appear to be one of the main things to get right.
Anyhow, I found this link to an article very interesting but I do think this is probably going too far to make a point. If it was not tied into a TV documentary I doubt this person would've taken the situation as far as he has. I suspect someone was watching over him most of the time.
Out Of Date
Love Food, Hate Waste
I think it's interesting and ties in with earlier posts I have made about food wastage and the throwing out of food. Which costs money and possibly means not enjoying food that you might've enjoyed and unless you are a large family that can polish off something in one or two sittings, it often means if you are single or only a two person family you have to make a decision that some food will have to be wasted(but at least you get to enjoy some of it)or not to buy or do without in the first place.
Thankfully, I manage to buy foods that are well ahead of the use by or sell by dates and manage to plan to some extent what I will use the night before(because they have to be defrosted overnight)or that I can cook fresh or from frozen.
Most of the items I do not use in time are few and if I think it's going to happen, the birds in my garden benefit.
Since full recycling came in my wheelie bin is lucky to have half a bin of rubbish even after 2 weeks(I probably could go a month)and that will not be food related.
However, I am of the opinion in many cases food can be eaten up to and beyond the dates that manufacturer's put on their products(if the item is stored correctly)at the right temperatures in a fridge/freezer.
If you have bought some freshly prepared cabbage/spring green and leeks)shredded and you've not used it on the date on the packet and it's not been opened and is not wilting or going brown, I do not believe that you cannot use it the next day. If you have a sense of smell, that's one way to check if it's OK to eat and another way is to look.
And of course finally, taste.
I also sometimes purchase in bulk for cost reasons and there's no way I can eat 5 chicken breasts in one sitting or wish to at every meal. Often an instruction is attached saying once opened they have to be used immediately. But commonsense says if they have been frozen I can take one or two portions out of the packet and put the rest into freezer bags. And use them another day.
Besides, the important thing as much as anything is to make certain that what you cook is cooked thoroughly and to be sure, do it a little bit longer than the instructions suggest. I always do that.
I have added a link to a Government Agency site that offers information how to avoid waste, use leftovers and revitalise food that has gone "limp" at the end of this blog entry.
To some extent I am all for being careful where food and health are concerned(Food poisoning can be a killer)and I can also appreciate in this day and age food manufacturer's have to be careful of being caught up in legal complications but Health and Safety has probably gone too far.
And having medical problems I'm probably a person that should be extra careful.
A good friend has reminded me that some items(usually alchololic)improve with age and how do we know as that can take years to find out. I also seem to remember when food was first sealed in a can(if done correctly)there have been cases where up on opening, the contents have been ediable (decades after being canned)so storage would appear to be one of the main things to get right.
Anyhow, I found this link to an article very interesting but I do think this is probably going too far to make a point. If it was not tied into a TV documentary I doubt this person would've taken the situation as far as he has. I suspect someone was watching over him most of the time.
Out Of Date
Love Food, Hate Waste
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 7:25 pm
4 Comments:
Hi Gildy...great links on these posts: I hate waste too and I nearly always eat OOD food. I understand that the producers are just involved in a bit of CYA but it is getting silly (CYA = cover your arse) I have eaten things months out of date with no bad effects although I do have a fairly strong...er 'constitution' is what it used to be called; some things have been pretty gruesome (as a 'leader' of a youth group I drank a pint of almost solidified sour green milk - it madea couple of girls physically sick to watch me do it...oooh I'm such a meany)
Re your various psots: one good lower-your-cholesterol drink is Kaiku Benecol (I presume its' available in the UK) They've been about for about 10 years and have now been copied by many of teh bigger comapnies.
Re probiotics, they definitely work but many available products are just marketing whizzes to enable a pint of milk to be sold for about 50 quid!
Re tins I only ever have oily fish of baked beans although, to contradict myself, at present I have a few emergency tins of tomato puré and black olives in the house.
Have you got a liquidiser? I often make soup/consume/gaspacho/vomit with a mixture of everything and everything that's left over...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Less carbs more fruit - forget tinned fruit unless you need the sugar boost. Bananas are great but there must be apples available, surely??? You're right re garlic but why not get fresh and mix it with food...much nicer and not as smelly as everyone makes out (I used to sell alicin, a main active ingredient of garlic) for animal nutrtion!
Have to rush
bye for now
Dave O
P.S. Just to add that when I say months out of date I'm not talking about lettuce of milk etc!!!
P.P.S. Also I mean allicin is a main active ingredient of garlic after it's been cut/chopped/crushed/whatever.
P.P.P.S I should have written ANYthing and everything (I put in the liquidiser)...which is why I put vomit - often looks similar :-)
Span(David)
I've another story I can add about food that has been discovered to reduce cholesterol but much more work needs doing but it could also reduce how many people have cancer and heart problems and avoid the use of the new drug that many are being offered of statins.
The study seems to have been done to a very high standard with many people included rather than just a small sample of people.
I may try adding garlic to some meals, I have heard of allicin. I have taken to Spinach recently. It's said to be very good for eyes problems and the skin.
It's remarkably easy to eat as it is or cooked like cabbage and takes no effort to prepare and makes a change in a salad to lettuce.
In general my cupboard canwise has Baked Beans, Spaghetti(but I have pasta I can cook myself and add a sauce)Soup and Oily Fish.
Otherwise it's mainly food in the fridge/freezer a mixture of frozen veg or fresh, Fish, Chicken and Fruit.
Love your stories, you must have quite a constitution getting some of that down you...
You mentioned apples, I am back to eating an apple a day(they have been given a good report regarding the reduction of cholesterol)
Tomato Puree and Ketchup is supposed to be good for your health and the ingredient that is said to beimportant is higher in those forms than eating tomatoes themselves.
Of course I have waited to see the programme since I found out about it over a week ago and what happened?
I was held up at the local supermarket(the alarm went off as I came out of the store)a tag had been left attached to some clothes I had purchased.
And then my taxi driver wanted to pay a call to the rest room as he had been caught short so by the time I made it home there was only the last ten minutes of the programme remaining so I missed it even though I had brought it to the attention of others.
It appears that it is not repeated either though in the past this series used to be reshown overnight.
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