In reply to Post #45
Take bait comments with a pinch of million year old pink rock salt.


Just check the BBF date first.

In reply to Post #46
indeed mate.

there are a VERY few i trust 110% regarding bait

Best before dates, i wouldnt worry about really

Use by dates, im very fussy about

In reply to Post #40
In that case why do companies like ABS add a surcharge to shelf life for the preservative but not the freezer electricity?

In reply to Post #48
I collect my bait from A.B.S. it's made and bagged fresh ready for me to collect on my chosen day. I believe they send bait out the same way. Freshly made not frozen.

In reply to Post #42
as we've spoken about in the past.....that is correct lol

In reply to Post #26
I get meat needs to hang for a period, I don't eat it anymore so dont have a say it in but some of the trendy steak places I've been to in the past have dry age fridges and what gets trimmed off ( the dark outer bit ) seems to be absolutely criminal amounts of wastage ?

In reply to Post #48
Because if they plan correctly, they minimize the freezing time to zero before they got sold. And don't underestimate what is already included in the overhead of those companies.

In reply to Post #51
its a bit of a fine art, Dry ageing.
the outer "Crust" holds in a certain amount of crucial moisture and best removed pre cooking as it can be rather chewy, a tad like biltong

the process takes along time, loses 30%, if not more dependant on ft and moisture content of the flesh, this varies dependant on breed, feed, age, sex of animal, hence why it commands the price it does

In reply to Post #46
I get the 'use by' date, but for myself, I'm not keen on the 'best before' date on foods, preferring the use by date as absolute. Yesterday as an example I bought a lot of vegetables, best before date was today, they will be fine for a few days in my fridge, and the potatoes could last a week or more.

Further down the thread was mentioned about bait companies using fresh traceable ingredients, but I know of one Essex firm who picked up and used a few ingredients that were close to or after the best before date.

I remember reading a few bait companies pointing out that white fishmeal changed consistency through the year as the fish migrated or were seasonal. That could mean colour, protein, even fats etc changed from batch to batch. With a short bag life will the bait be the same?

In reply to Post #54
Use by dates - high in protein, fats and moisture, short shelf life. May cause food poisoning if eaten past stated date. Producers put a shorter "shelf life" date than really required to cover their backsides from people who dont understand bacteria multiplcation.

Best before - less volatile, normally canned, highly process, if past the date, not harmful to human health, but can be depleted of content, taste and texture

if you think about it...steak, dry aged, 28 day minimum....its all about how its kept and still perfect to eat, therefore by passing said "use by" date

In reply to Post #55
I could tell you a story about a flavour compounder company i consult for and train their staff how to compound, one of the biggest in the country and the bait people who turned up to buy out of date stock during a "sale" as it costs a small fortune to dispose of out of date flavours and the bait industry doesn't fall into that bracket

But i wont openly

In reply to Post #56
Bargain flavours

In reply to Post #56
I often when I worked for the council see flavours dumped by huge bait company at local council tip, why do flavours cost lots to dump thanks

In reply to Post #56
Don't worry about that. There are more of those 'secrets' out there.

I've worked a couple of months for a company that produces milk powder.
Spilled milk powder is categorized in 2 classes: b and c.
Class c is product that was scraped from the floor and one wasn't sure if was low fat, regular powder or instant powder.
Class b is product that was scooped from a pile of spilled powder and wasn't in direct contact with the floor.

Class b is shipped to low cost brands like one can find in the Aldi or Lidl.
Class c is used for animal feed calf milk replacer.

In reply to Post #56
Can I ask where you got the experience of flavour compounding to be able to enter a flavour house and teach their staff how to compound? I thought you were in meat business?

reason I ask is although I think most flavours are gimmicks I find the chemistry fascinating