It says best before not bad after!

My name is Lisa Nixon and I am a moldophobic. ("Hi Lisa.")

So for those of you that know me well enough..(well, actually at all.) You would know me as the type of person who does not eat ANYTHING past it expiry date. Sometimes, I won't eat something if it expires the next day, you know just to be safe.

But I have been thinking. Why on earth do they put a "best before" label? When that only gives a window of opportunity to eat things past their so called "due date". For some the idea of a best before only leaves plenty of opportunity afterwards to enjoy the food, just not at its peak.

My question is, how much longer can you extend a perishable item before it has gone to far? 2 days? 2 weeks? I know that it definately depends on the type of food you are about to devour but is there a hidden date that follows the best before, where it is like the final say not kidding you better throw this away or else kind of deal? Does cutting off mold make everything ok? I am not to sure if the smell and inspect method really works for me either, cuz I kind of figure from personal experience sticking any meat up to my nose just makes me feel ill regardless of how fresh it is. Don't get me wrong, I love meat entirely, but this test method just does not appeal to any of my senses.

I would like to make a general reccomendation to those employed within the food industry. Can you please include a label that says bad after? just for clarification purposes? So that way there is no question. If its in the fridge past the bad after date, there is no eating it.

Apart from these questions and reccomendations surrounding the issue, I would also just like to say that today I am eating sandwich meat that is considered "best before" today. So wish me luck, this is a huge moment in time for me. So far, it doesn't really taste that bad. I will keep you posted.