BRITS are unwittingly wasting tonnes of food thinking it is “out of date”.
It turns out that a lot of the food in our cupboards and fridges will actually last a lot longer than we have been led to believe.
While some foods should always be chucked after the “use by” date has passed, for some these are guidelines you can take with a pinch of salt.
It is always wise to pay attention to the dates when it comes to meat, fish and seafood, but plenty of other foods are perfectly fine to eat.
According to a London-based foodie, Gayle Chapman, there are five foods that she always eats past the use-by dates.
Gayle often shares her easy meal recipes and food hacks to TikTok, but her recent video shares the foods that she claims, are safe to eat, regardless of the date on the packaging.
Read more on food
The food fan uploaded her video with the caption ‘5 use-by dates I ignore! Also, anything in a tin! Disclaimer: this is just what I do, I am not responsible for your choices’.
She said: “These are five use-by dates that I always ignore.
“Number one, miso paste – don’t tell me something that takes many years to make, goes off in a month.
“Number two, fruit and veg – when I get it home, I take it out of the packet, put it in the fridge and I use my own judgement to decide when it’s off.
Most read in Fabulous
“Number three, marmite – I think they put a date in but that’s just to guarantee the vitamins are still good, it lasts forever.
“Number four, yoghurt – if the lid isn’t raised and it’s not open, I’ll go quite far past that use-by date.
FABULOUS BINGO: Get a £20 bonus & 30 free spins when you spend £10 today
“Number five, things like pasta and rice – I use them by my own judgement and by my own judgement, they never go off”.
Gayle’s video has clearly impressed many, as in just four days, it has racked up a whopping 210.6k views.
It has 23.2k likes, 86 comments and 12 shares.
Many TikTok users admitted that they also eat foods past the use-by date.
One person said: “Look at it, smell it, taste it. If it seems okay, it’s okay. Our bodies have mechanisms to protect us. they’ll let us know when we’re in danger”.
Another added: “In New Zealand our fruit and veg don’t have use-by dates! Just use our judgement. Was so weird moving here to see dates!!”
A third commented: “Agree with all of this, I absolutely hate to waste food”.
Someone else added: “So many I can name that I don’t even look at”.
Read More on The Sun
Of course, it is down to you what you eat, but according to the Food Standards Agency, you must not eat, cook or freeze food and drink items past their “use by” date.
The Agency adds: “The food could be unsafe to eat or drink, even if it has been stored correctly and looks and smells fine.”
