Is is safe to eat food that's soon after its 'Sell by' date?

25 September 2011

Part of the show Cheese Making and Cake Baking: The Chemistry of Cookery

Question

I like sell by dates - being a student I can get stuff cheaper, so there is a minor risk, but I bet that a sandwich that has a sell by date of Sunday is still edable even Tuesday or early Wednesday. I get the sandwich for less than half price. Is this a safe strategy?

Answer

Nick - I think it is. Obviously many of the listeners will be aware that there's been quite a discussion over the last couple of weeks about 'sell by' dates and whether we should have them or not, and indeed a proposal that we should get rid of them. I think by and large, they're a mechanism for the sellers to use stock rotation to make sure their produce is as it should be, rather than specifically being anything to do with food safety.