www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

When I got home from work 2day, the missus said she is going out with a friend?
She returned after Three hours with a boot full of carbonated soda drinks etc?

'Do you know how much all this cost? She enquired?'
Sixty pounds, I replied?

'No, it cost me nothing, ZILTCH, get it?'

It turns out most of the drinks are either Three, Four, or Five months over the expiration date? And this newly opened Cash & Carry outlet in Purley Way is begging people to take it away???

I've refused to drink it, but in my absence, she will give it to the kids?? What if they fall sick?
She claims there's nothing wrong with it and I should watch the TV to see its safe to drink? REALLY?!?

I fear for what this may do to the kids. She won't be able to give them in my presence, but once I'm out, she will

If this place is newly opened why have they got out of date stock? I think it's part of an alien abduction plot.

I don't think the drinks being out of date will do them any harm - the sugar content will be more detrimental.

I've never understood why fizzy drinks are so popular, can't abide the stuff myself.

As long as the bottle tops are secure the drinks will be fine......they will have lost a bit of flavour maybe?

More of a worry would be if plastic bottles have been stored for long periods where they are exposed to sunlight. The UV can cause the plastic to release all sorts of nasty toxins into the drinks - especially if the drinks themselves are as acidic as most fizzy drinks are.

Could always add some mentos.

someone-else wrote:Could always add some mentos.

OH MY LIFE ! ! How can that be !

i wouldn't worry personally as the shelve life tends to be around 18 months so a few extra months will do little

although having said that over the last couple off years because our brilliant government where threatening to increase a 3 L bottle off cider from £3.50p to 50p a unit or £11 25p i have been stocking at a fair rate

now normally i cycle my drinks stock fairly well but i found some bottles 3 months out off date i sampled them a mouth full made me heady so chucked the
over the next few days i found 42 pints or 24L that tasted wrong
in general they had no fiz and no gas there is nothing preserving the contents
some off the bottles where actually just out off date or even just in date but where flat and not nice

the point i am making if they are fizzy dont worry but if they are flat do not touch

we need to remember the traditonal way off preservation is high fat content high sugar content high gas content high alcohol content high salt content freezing or dry control [dry freezed ]vacuum sealed
refrigeration or vinegars
basically a hostile envirnoment that bacteria do not like

you can off course use preservatives like sulphers or the like but the old methods are more natural and more understood

No wonder there is such growth in the brew-your-own industry. I've a mind to start making ethanol.......

A quick Google reveals 6-9 mths

Info here

Ke, don't brew Ethanol? What if I came round for a visit and mistook it for a bottle of water? By the time I realise its ethanol, I might be gone.

We have foreign students visiting every now and again. I fear she may be tempted to give them in an effort to cut down on cost?

All depends what your calling the expiration date. Big problem with labelling is the different labels manufacturers put on their stuff. "Best before" is different from "Use By" as is "Display until" . Labelling is confusing. Some products give a guideline of "Use within 6 months and show the date it was manufactured. Most manufacturers err on the side of caution, so something which is only a few months out of date, may well be perfectly safe.

joinerjohn wrote: so something which is only a few months out of date, may well be perfectly safe.

Not if its gammon and has a green sheen to it.

My OH once gave me such as described, thinking its only a few days out of date (It really was only a few days) I spent several hours on the toilet, never eaten gammon since.

I have no problem eating food that has "expired" provided I can see it first and looks and feels ok. We like brown bread, but its surprising how quick it turns into a penicillin factory, for us it seems to be 3 days.
Drinks / pop it never stays in the can long enough to go off (we don't buy litre+ bottles on the principal that once opened 60% of the fizz goes within hours)

We have got a similiar shop near us in lincolnshire and i always have the flavoured water etc. from there and you really wouldn't tell the difference. We used to get all the Out of date fresh produce from a local Co-op to give to our pigs, some days it was incredible and we would get like 5 bread baskets full of fruit and veg and then a dustbin size bin full of fresh bread which is 'un-suitable' for sale the day after. The pigs used to love it and taste even better too once we had them butchered but now it has all stopped because the co-op aren't allowed to give it away it has to go in the bin!!!! How ridiculous is that!!!

I went to my local Tesco stores and asked for put of date veg so I could feed to the chickens.
The lady at customer services said they have them but are not allowed to give me. It must be binned.
MADNESS

kintangoman wrote: It must be binned.
MADNESS

Actually its not.

From your POV it is complete madness, but have you ever looked at it from (in this case) Tesco's POV?

Some one they don't know, comes in and asks for past its sell by date food for their animals.
No questions asked they give you lots.

Unbeknown to them you see a pie, you eat said pie.
You get severe problems from eating this pie, you have to go to hospital.
You sue (in this case) Tesco
You win.

Its better for (in this case) Tesco to refuse you the food in the first place as this saves them money since you can't sue them.

That's why its done.

Yes its sad but true. Some stores now have to lock all the "odd" food in bins as it was being taken by people who feed from this. (Heard several times on the radio from people who do)

To me its all down to the "where there's blame there's a claim" culture. If (in this case) Tesco knew 100% you would never sue they would happily give you the stuff but there is that 1% that says you may, and if you sign a disclaimer, they will have to let everyone do it, then there would be a some solicitor who would find a clause and..........

On another forum (sorry) there was a post about some one who "found" some "Decorative lights" The person was raving on about what a waste, etc. and how can they be wired to work.
After several posts it turns out the lights were taken without permission from a skip on the premises and that vital parts were missing, so they ended up back in another skip.

My point being that at first glance binning the product (lights) seemed to be a complete waste, but when all was checked it was found that without the other parts, in ignorance the enquirer would have caused a fire. (not really a good idea)

There is always a reason stuff is "binned" even if its not obvious at the time.