Well, I seem to have survived with no ill effects. 🙂

Maybe it’s just me but ‘supermarket’ food seems to go off so much quicker these days. Maybe they are putting less preservatives in the food, maybe it is the distance the food has had to travel, or maybe to my cynical mind the supermarkets know that people will not eat food that has past its ‘best before’ date?

Astonishingly it seems that something like 30% – 40% of all food purchased in the UK is thrown away. Pretty shocking when you consider the distance much of it has come, the amount of packaging and the impact on the environment.

To carry on regarding food ‘expiry’, If I may…

I have the dubious pleasure of currently being the evening/night cook at our one and only local bar/restaurant…. and quite honestly, I’ve never in my life seen greater waste of food. Even when delivered fresh to us from distributors, fresh meat product barely lasts 6 days (when immediately prepared and frozen).

Over the last month, we’ve managed to extend the ‘useful life’ of our meats… primarily by immediately portioning and/or preparing/freezing it in more manageable quantities. Strangely, the best preservation method for poultry product (once taken out to thaw) is to keep it in the walk-in beer cooler (1 degree C).

Produce is a continual battle… either it gets frost-bitten en-route or in the coolers once it arrives, and with space at a premium, the waste level is atrocious.

The worst in my opinion is baked goods… for all the preservatives present in ‘industrial’ bread, I’ve never seen a loaf go off so fast – including at home!

And why does Orange juice get white ‘clumps’ in it after its expiry date?? – isn’t it supposed to be simply juice of oranges?!?!

JJ