The always controversial 'sell by' date is to go, so say the papers. When I was a kid you checked the bread for stiffness and mould and if there wasn't any, you ate it. The 'sell by' date seemed a good idea though, as it just covered the responsibility of the retailer. Except the natural reaction is to err on the side of caution and we end up throwing away perfectly good food.
The last shopping expedition in this house was to Tesco, a not often visited store for us. All of the products were short dated, which I found shocking. I have to say that I don't pay much (any) attention to 'sell by' dates when buying, but will glance at them later, as an indication as to how long I've had it sometimes!
A cheese and tomato flatbread was dated the day after it was bought, as were both packs of sausages. The former was eaten with no problem 3 days past sell-by and the sausages will be experimented with tonight, 5 days 'late' (wish me luck!). The other meat products were also within a couples of days.
Whilst not a great believer in 'sell by' dates I have to say I am shocked at the short dates at Tesco, it is not something I have experienced elsewhere. Because it was the same with several items it would appear that Tesco are similarly not that concerned. I have to say, I have always viewed Tesco as a careless company regarding their relationship to customers, a real like-it-or-lump-it merchant.
The problem is, that when the big retailers are released from the constraints of the sell by date, just how cavalier would they be? No matter how much sell-by dates can and have been ridiculed, there is still a distinct smell of big business telling big government what to do, here.
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