The Myth of 'Best Before' dates.

How many of us are guilty of throwing out food because it's a little past it's 'best before' date?, quite a few I'm sure, but I don't by into that 'use by' mullarky, I believe food is good for a long time after it's 'use by' or 'best before' date has expired. 

I think nothing of eating a can of food a year after it's use by date and I've even eaten  a can of tomato soup that was 12 years out of date with no ill effect whatsoever.

But recently I found something in one of my old bug out bags that would maybe illustrate this a little for you

I found a chocolate bar in one of my old B.O.B's, a fruit and nut bar to be exact and if you look closely at the date you will see how old it is, I've pictured it beside an in-date Kitkat chunky bar I bought recently just so you can compare the dates..

If you look at the Kitkat you'll see it's out of date in June this year (2015) but the fruit and nut bar from my bag is six years past it's 'Best before' date of march 2009 !

But as for the chocolate inside the wrapper..

absolutely perfect, no problems at all and even the coco butter hasn't turned the chocolate whiteish.. and as for the taste it was gorgeous as good as the day it was bought - 6 years ago!!!

Davy even thought it tasted better than it would have originally!

But use common sense with out of date food, if the can has swollen or is heavily rusted it's best to avoid it, but in reality most food is usable for a lot longer than you think, so don't put it in the trash put it in your belly!