The Richard Spooner Column: Out of date food? Perish the thought�

Without wishing to sound like an old fossil - I know I am but perhaps we can put that to one side at the mo - I was intrigued this week by attitudes to “use-by ” and “best-before ” dates on food stuffs.

It arose because the milk on the office fridge carried a four-day old use-by date when we returned from the Bank Holiday weekend. Two of the more senior members of the team had no qualms about using it after a cursory sniff confirmed all was well.

However, when the younger generation arrived, they immediately tipped it down the sink. What a waste, we protested. But we were warned we would soon be struck down by a dreaded malaise. We weren 't.

I know there is a debate about putting “life ” dates on foodstuffs and many people who were born after most homes were without refrigerators have developed an obsession and slavishly comply with the deadlines.

For most of her life, my mum never had the luxury of a fridge. Food was kept in the “larder ”, a box in the pantry with a mesh door designed to keep flies and any other diptera invaders on the outside.

In it she would keep milk, butter, cheeses, meat and any other perishables. She would know immediately if anything was “off ” by her instinct and smell.

A whole new debate around this issue has been rekindled as a campaign has been launched in the UK asking consumers to judge for themselves. Perish the thought that people are being asked to make up their own minds.

A government-backed initiative urges people to “Look - Smell - Taste - Don 't Waste. ” However, the idea is not entirely to invest the decision in the consumer - there will be flexible consumption dates.

The subject aired recently on The Hard Shoulder, a show hosted every weekday afternoon by Kieran Cuddihy on his Newstalk independent radio show.

He invited Dr Orla Cahill, a lecturer in microbiology and allergen management at Technology University, Dublin, to give her view on use and best-before dates. She felt a campaign had merit but only on the “best before ” issue.

She said: “As a rule of thumb, 'best before ' is about quality and 'use by ' is about safety.

“Sometimes with a 'best before ' date - while it might be safe to eat - it may not actually taste the best. So we might have texture changes or it might not be as palatable as before.

“Whereas with 'use by ' it might not be safe to eat with regard to food-borne pathogens and food poisoning - that 's the main difference between the two� ”

So now we know - or do we? In an age of the nanny state, it 's fashionable to be guided by big brother - take the whole debate around Covid as an example when Boris urged us continually to use your common-sense.

But, as we know, that went out of the window years ago�

JL