Health

Scientists have been able to partially revive the brains of decapitated pigs that died four hours earlier in a groundbreaking study. 

Experts used tubes that pumped a chemical mixture designed to mimic blood into the decapitated heads of 32 pigs to restore circulation and cellular activity.

Echoing Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein, billions of neurons began acting normally and the deaths of other cells was reduced over the course of six hours.

Electrical brain activity across the brain associated with awareness, perception and other high level functions were not observed, however.

While the find is an exciting breakthrough, it is still a long way from proof that a person’s consciousness can be recovered after they die, experts caution.

But it may open the door to salvaging mental powers in stroke patients, however, as well as new treatments that boost recovery of neurons after brain injury. 

A research team led by Yale School of Medicine obtained the pigs’ brains from abattoirs and placed them in a system they created called BrainEx. 

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It mimics pulsating blood flow – known medically as perfusion – at normal human body temperatures of 37°C (98.6°F).

The team saw a reduction in the death of the brain cells over the course of six hours.

There was also revival of some cellular functions, including the firing of synapses – vital connections between neurons that transport signals.

The study suggests some brain activities have the capacity to be restored at least partially – even a few hours after death.

It also challenges long-held assumptions about the timing and irreversible nature of death, say the researchers.

Senior author Professor Nenad Sestan described the results as ‘mind-boggling’ and ‘unexpected’ but believed the technique could work on humans.

Professor Sestan, a neuroscientist at Yale, said: ‘The intact brain of a large mammal retains a previously underappreciated capacity for restoration of circulation and certain molecular and cellular activities multiple hours after circulatory arrest.’ 

Although there was no evidence of global network activity or full-brain function during the experiments.

But many basic cellular functions – once thought to cease seconds or minutes after oxygen and blood flow stop – were observed.

Cellular death within the brain is usually considered to be a swift and irreversible process.

Cut off from oxygen and a blood supply, electrical activity and signs of awareness disappear within seconds – while energy stores are depleted in minutes.

Current understanding maintains a cascade of injury and death molecules are then activated leading to widespread, irreversible degeneration.

But researchers in Professor Sestan’s lab – who focus on brain development and evolution – found that small tissue samples routinely showed signs of cellular viability.

This was the case even when they were harvested many hours after death. 

Intrigued, they used the pigs’ brains to discover how widespread this is.

Four hours after death they connected up the blood vessels to circulate a uniquely formulated solution they developed to preserve the tissue using BrainEx.

They found brain cell integrity was preserved and certain neurons, glial cells found in the central nervous system, and blood vessel cells, began working.

The breakthrough may also shed light on the structure and function of the human brain – which is difficult to analyse.

This hinders investigations into topics like the roots of brain disorders as well as neuronal connectivity in both healthy and abnormal conditions.

The chemical solution used lacks many of the components found in human blood – such as the immune system and other cells.

This makes the experimental system significantly different from normal living conditions.

Any future study involving human tissue or possible revival of global electrical activity in ‘dead’ animal tissue should be done under strict ethical oversight, the researchers said. 

‘Death is a process and it takes time, not just seconds or minutes – we knew that,’ said Dr Martin Monti, associate professor in the departments of psychology and neurosurgery at the University of California Los Angeles, who was not involved in the research.

‘The advance here is that, with the right technology, we might now have more time to recover some molecular, cellular, and microvascular function before these are completely compromised in the non-human animal model, a prospect which might some day extend the potential timeline for restorative interventions in human tissues. 

‘However, this should not be confused with acts of magic restoring any function in one’s favourite long-gone hero, which is not going to happen any time soon, and it should also not be confused with re-infusing cognitive processing or, much less, sentience in the decapitated head.’

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature. 

 

Fresh red meat could be safe to eat after 50 DAYS in the fridge: Beef, pork and lamb are edible for weeks as long as they are chilled below 46F (8C), study finds

• New research shows botulism bacteria not present at toxic level for first 49 days
• Study could revolutionise industry by changing sell-by dates and cutting waste
• Food Standards Agency vows to examine report before any changes to rules

By Sean Poulter Consumer Affairs Editor For The Daily Mail and Stephen Matthews Health Editor For Mailonline

Published: 17:02 EDT, 17 April 2019 | Updated: 05:14 EDT, 18 April 2019

A woman with varicose veins so painful she broke down and cried to her GP for treatment was told only to come back when they had caused open sores.

Shannon Hutchinson, 30, from Telford, Shropshire, was unable to walk upstairs due to being in agony from the common condition.

The mother-of-two gained weight because walking was so uncomfortable and she became anxious that people thought she was exaggerating her pain.

She was denied treatment on the NHS, despite asking her doctor more than 12 times over a two-year period.

Instead she was given stockings to wear ‘which did nothing’ and claims she was told to come back if she lost feeling in her feet. 

In the end Mrs Hutchinson had ‘life-changing’ private treatment at the Veincentre’s London clinic, which cost nearly £2,600, and has since lost two stone.

It comes at a time that the NHS is cutting the number of varicose vein patients referred for surgery. 

Mrs Hutchinson, who is a qualified hairdresser but now a stay-at-home mother, first developed a small lump in her left leg in 2012 following the birth of her first son, who’s now six.

But her GP at Donnington Medical Practice, Shropshire, told her it was ‘just a lump’ and to ignore it.

In 2015, after the birth of her second son, who’s now three, Mrs Hutchinson noticed the vein had grown bigger and another had appeared on her right leg.

She began experiencing symptoms such as aching, burning and itchy, and her legs would swell in the warm weather.

The veins on both legs continued to grow, and on her left they reached round the back to her ankle.

Mrs Hutchinson, who always enjoyed being active and loved taking her young children for walks, said the pain began to restrict her lifestyle. 

She said: ‘By 2017 my left leg was especially painful. I’ve always loved running and as a family we’ve enjoyed going on long walks.

‘But my symptoms were getting so severe, by the end of each day I was limping and struggling to walk down the stairs.

‘I couldn’t even get down on the floor to play with my children.’

She also stopped wearing dresses and shorts because she didn’t like the way her legs looked – and her veins were so big, they would protrude through her jeans. 

Mrs Hutchinson said the ‘breaking point’ came in summer 2018 when she and her husband Adam took their children to a safari park.

Halfway through the family day out, Mrs Hutchinson had to sit down on a bench because her legs were so painful – leaving Mr Hutchinson to take the kids round the park.

She said: ‘Missing out like that was the final straw. I had to do something about it.

‘I must have gone to the GP a dozen times, telling them how much it was affecting my life.

‘It wasn’t so much the cosmetic side than the symptoms. They were just making my life a misery, and my husband told me how much he hated seeing me in pain.

‘I even broke down and cried on one visit to the GP. It felt like I was constantly being fobbed off by the doctors, who said they would only do something if I lost the feeling in my feet or if my veins deteriorated into sores.

‘Instead they just offered me stockings, which did nothing.’

Mrs Hutchinson said her painful varicose veins also affected her mental health. She was used to being active, but went through a ‘low period’ because her movement was restricted due to being in agony.

Often she would be forced to spend all day sitting it on the sofa because she was in so much pain, and that led to her gaining weight.

She said: ‘It really got me down and often cried to my husband because I was struggling and felt anxious because people just didn’t understand.

‘The doctors made me feel like I was overreacting, which I then thought everyone else thought, and that left me terribly anxious.

‘My doctor told me the only way I would get them sorted was going privately.’

Mrs Hutchinson opted for treatment at the Veincentre’s London clinic.

She underwent endovenous laser ablation, which is carried out with local anaesthetic and involves inserting a laser into the vein through a needle and burning the faulty vein, to both of her legs.

She also required foam sclerotherapy injections, where medication in the form of foam is injected into the affected vein to shrink it.

At her follow-up appointment, Mrs Hutchinson also needed a non-invasive duplex ultrasound scan, a further session of foam injections and microsclerotherapy – injections of a liquid called Sclerovein, which destroys the veins.

The total cost of her treatment was £2,595, and Mrs Hutchinson said she ‘cried with relief’ after having it done, calling it ‘life changing’.

She wore a stocking for a week and when she removed it she could ‘see straight away the veins were no longer protruding’.

Mrs Hutchinson said: ‘Within two weeks all the pain had vanished and within six weeks I was walking long distances again.

‘After my treatment I gained new confidence not just to go out bare legged but confidence in myself.

‘My anxiety reduced and I finally had the confidence to get back into the world, which is when the workouts and outdoor activity started again.

‘Now everything is different. At Christmas I wore a dress for the first time in years.

‘There are no scars on my legs, and I can run and climb with the kids, and I have started to work out, losing more than two stone since my last treatment in the autumn.

‘It’s had a huge knock on effect for my family life, and my husband is so happy for me.’

Dr David West, founder of the Veincentre, said the guidance from NHS England and NICE regarding referring patients for varicose veins treatment ‘contradicted’ one another.

It comes at a time that the government is reducing the number of people undergoing surgery for varicose vein surgery from 28,000 a year to 20,000, he said.

Dr West added that because the condition is so common, if everyone with a varicose vein demanded ‘expensive NHS treatment, it would overload the system’.

He said: ‘You can quite easily see why NHS England takes this stance because there’s only a limited amount of staff and money available.

‘Another problem is that varicose veins are unlike most medical problems as they are mostly both a cosmetic problems and can cause symptoms and could ultimately cause a significant threat to health if the skin breaks down.’

He added: ‘The numbers of patients referred for NHS treatment is reducing. At the same time the numbers of patients suffering with the problems are increasing.’ 

Christine Morris, executive lead for quality, nursing and safety for Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, said: ‘We are unable to comment on individual patient cases.

‘However, we would like to reassure patients that it is the priority of the CCG and its GP member practices to ensure every patient receives a level of NHS care and treatment that is clinically appropriate for their needs.’

Delivering a baby by a planned caesarean section is cheaper for the NHS than a vaginal birth, research suggests.  

Experts claim around £400 could be saved, once all compensation costs are taken into consideration. 

The majority of expectant mothers are being denied a C-section, despite official guidelines saying they should have the choice.

This is despite studies showing that the risks of serious complications – including haemorrhaging – are higher with C-sections than vaginal births.

Maternity claims represented the biggest area of spend for NHS Resolution, the body that handles NHS compensation claims, in 2017/18. 

Gynaecological and obstetric injury claims are made when complications such as an injury arise because poor standards of care of negligence. 

They can be particularly expensive because babies may need specialist care for life if they are left brain-damaged by labour, for example.  

Of the clinical negligence claims notified to the organisation, obstetrics claim they represented 10 per cent of clinical claims by number.

But they accounted for 48 per cent of the total value of new claims – £2.17billion of the total £4.51billion. 

And the costs for negligence were around nine times higher for vaginal births than for planned C-sections, the figures showed.  

Previous economic modelling by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has found that vaginal deliveries are about £700 cheaper than a planned C-section, but these figures do not take into account compensation claims.

A planned C-section, according to this study, was over £400 per birth cheaper than a vaginal birth.

But when looking at long-term indemnity costs, it could end up being £2,000 to £3,000 less expensive than a planned vaginal birth.

They said the costs for negligence relating to the planned method of birth were found to be approximately nine times higher for planned vaginal birth than for a planned C-section.

One of the authors of new study, Jonathan West, a former NHS consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology who worked at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, said: ‘Planning to have a baby naturally is very safe when looked at from the viewpoint of the chance of something going seriously wrong, but very expensive when the human and financial cost of something going wrong actually occurs.

‘We should recognise that women have a right to informed choice, and our study shows that it is unfair to discourage mothers from choosing to Caesarean birth on the grounds of cost.’ 

For the study, which has been published on the F1000 research website and may be submitted to a medical journal, the team looked at data from Nice, NHS Resolution and NHS Improvement.  

Research has shown that women at 75 per cent of UK maternity units are being denied their right to choose a C-section.

NICE guidance says women should be allowed to opt for a planned C-section even if it is not for medical reasons.

Women requesting a C-section with no other medical reason should be offered appropriate discussion and support, NICE says.

But ultimately, if they are regarded as making an informed choice, a C-section should be offered.

Of the 146 trusts that shared their policies with the Birthrights charity last August, only 26 per cent fully complied with the guidelines while 15 per cent refused all elective C-section.

Whether C-sections put women at more risk than vaginal birth is of debate due to conflicting evidence but some experts say that doctors should be more considerate.

While avoiding some after effects of labour such as urinary incontinence, the procedure can lead to scarring of the womb, which heightens the risk of complications during future births.

Older mothers – of which there are soaring numbers – who give birth by C-section are three times more likely to experience severe complications than those who give birth naturally, research has shown.

The numbers of C-sections have increased from 19.7 per cent in 2000 to 26.2 per cent in 2015.

Heartwarming footage shows a toddler who was born with backwards legs walking, running and playing following life-changing surgery.

Victoria Komada was born with the one-in-a-million defect tibial hemimelia, which caused her to have a missing shinbone in her right leg and a shortened one in her left limb.

Eight specialists warned the three-year-old’s parents Marzena Drusewicz, 32, and Dariusz Komada, 41, her only option was a double amputation. 

Refusing to give up on their daughter, the pair found a limb reconstruction specialist in Florida and fundraised £180,000 to pay for her to have two surgeries. 

Medics were only able to save one of Victoria’s legs, however, a prosthetic finally enabled her to walk.

Following nine months of treatment, the family finally flew home to Norwich on Monday, with Victoria being due to start school in September. 

Dr Dror Paley – who performed Victoria’s surgery at the Paley Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida – said: ‘We achieved all we said we would achieve on her. 

‘The reconstructed leg is very functional. She can walk and run and do sports now. She has a superb result.’

Although thrilled her daughter can play like any other child, Ms Drusewicz admits her treatment was grueling.    

‘She was in a lot of pain all day and all night,’ she said. ‘We had all had enough. It was really horrible.

‘Of course I was so scared and didn’t know what would was going to happen. She would cry and scream so much after the operation.

‘Every week she got better and better, and now she is not in any pain at all and can walk normally and we can all start our life again now we are home.

‘We were so happy when she took her first steps we started crying. We were on the way to the car and she said “mummy, can I show you something?”‘

The couple, who are originally from Poland, flew to Florida in July last year to meet Dr Paley.

He told the family Victoria’s left leg could be fixed, however, her right needed amputating.  

‘The reason is on the right side, where the tibia is completely missing, the quadriceps muscles mostly missing – the functional result’s not going to be great,’ Dr Paley said.   

The youngster went under the knife for the first time in a nine-hour operation on July 24, which involved amputating her right leg above the knee.

Pins were then put into her left leg before a fixator – a stabilising frame that holds broken bones in place – was attached. This gradually stretched her limb into shape. 

Over the following months screws were twisted into Victoria’s legs every day to move the bones into the right position. 

The family stayed at the hospitality centre Quantum House throughout their nine-month stay. 

Victoria then went under the knife again on November 13, which involved medics fusing the bones in her left leg to strengthen the limb.

Just two days later, she took her first steps with the aid of a prosthetic. 

The couple hope their daughter will have a normal childhood like any other youngster.  

‘She’s a normal kid, she’s like clever, she’s happy always,’ Mrs Komada said. 

‘I just want her to have a normal life and I know she’s going to have a normal life because she’s a strong girl.’ 

Mr and Mrs Komada moved to the UK 14 years ago, and were expecting a baby shortly after.  

The pregnancy went smoothly, with no signs anything was wrong until Victoria was born. 

Speaking of seeing her daughter for the first time, Mrs Komada said: ‘The nurse, she came to me and she said: ‘I’m going to give you your daughter in a minute because she’s got problems with her legs.’ 

‘I said, ‘what problem with her legs?’ and she said ‘nothing don’t worry’.

An orthopaedic surgeon diagnosed Victoria and recommended she have both her legs amputated. But the new parents refused to let her go under the knife. 

‘For me she needs her own legs, not amputate and prosthetic legs,’ Mr Komada said. ‘And I said “no I will not agree to amputate legs, no, no, no”. 

Online research eventually led the couple to Dr Paley, who specialises in limb lengthening and reconstruction.

After carrying out a series of scans on Victoria’s legs, Dr Paley was confident he could help the youngster, but it would take a year before the treatment was over.

He initially charged them £300,000, before agreeing to carry it out for £190,000.  

An 11-year-old girl died after she suffered an allergic reaction to toothpaste and her mother is now warning other parents about the importance of reading labels.

Denise Saldate, from West Covina, California, who had a dairy allergy, went into anaphylactic shock from a milk protein in a prescription toothpaste.

She had been given the prescription by her dentist to help strengthen her tooth enamel, reported Allergic Living.

However, after years spent reading ingredient labels on toothpaste tubes and never seeing milk listed, her mother, Monica Altamirano said she didn’t think her daughter would be exposed to milk. 

Denise was diagnosed with a severe dairy allergy at age one.

For the next several years, Altamirano and Denise’s father, Jose Saldate, diligently read food labels and made sure school staff gave her appropriate lunches. 

On April 4, Denise and her mother went to the dentist, who prescribed MI Paste One, a brand of medicated toothpaste to help strengthen her tooth enamel.

Altamirano had spent most of Denise’s childhood reading the ingredients label on toothpaste tubes, but had never seen milk listed. 

‘I did not think to look at the product ingredients,’ she told Allergic Living. ‘She was just excited to have her special toothpaste.’ 

That evening, Denise was in the bathroom brushing her teeth with her 15-year-old sister.

Her sister told Allergic Living that just a few moments later, Denise ran out of the bathroom crying to find her mother. 

‘She said: “I think I’m having an allergic reaction to the toothpaste” and her lips were already blue,’ Altamirano said. 

Suddenly Denise’s mother realized that the sixth grader was going into anaphylactic shock.

The immune system releases chemicals that flood the body, blood pressure suddenly drops, and airways narrow, which prevents someone from breathing normally.

Symptoms usually occur within minutes and include hives, a weak pulse, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and a swollen tongue or throat.

To reverse this, an epinephrine solution – a medication and a hormone – is injected into the thigh muscle, which dilates blood vessels to bring blood pressure back and up and relaxes the muscles of the airways so the sufferer can breathe again.   

The sister called 911 while Altamirano gave Denise a shot from her EpiPen and her asthma inhaler, but neither was helping. 

Paramedics quickly arrived and attempted to administer CPR for several minutes before taking her to the hospital.

Denise was in the hospital for two days before she passed away. 

Her parents later learned that that toothpaste contained Recaldent, a cows’ milk-derived protein.

The family hopes that the tragedy will help spread awareness about anaphylaxis and encourage families, school staff, and caregivers to check all items for allergens. 

They also want dentists and other physicians to ask patients regularly if they have any allergies. 

The family hopes that the tragedy will help spread awareness about anaphylaxis and encourage families, school staff, and caregivers to check all items for allergens.

‘Read everything. Don’t get comfortable, just because you’ve been managing for several years,’ Altamirano said.

This is your child’s life, and God forbid you have to go through what I’m going through.’

Memorial services have been scheduled for April 26 and 27 with mourners asked to wear clothes with bright colors to reflect Denise’s ‘bright personality’. 

The family has started a GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover the cost of funeral expenses. 

So far, more than $17,000 has been raised out of an initial $10,000 goal.

Exercise may make you GAIN weight: People eat nearly a quarter more after a work out because ‘they feel like they deserve it’

• Volunteers upped their lunches by 150 calories after working out 
• Repeating this at dinner would more than outweigh any benefit, scientists warn 
• Chocolate consumption went up by 20%, particularly among the women

By Alexandra Thompson Senior Health Reporter For Mailonline

Published: 10:41 EDT, 18 April 2019 | Updated: 10:44 EDT, 18 April 2019

Faced with a slightly green and furry block of cheddar in the fridge, do you bin it? Or cut the ugly bits off, and pop the remainder in a sandwich?

As a food scientist, I know all too well the dangers of bacteria that can lurk in food that has gone off. But I also know it’s perfectly safe to eat cheese that just looks off.

Last week’s news from the British Meat Processors Association laboratories that beef and lamb may last far longer than usual use-by dates – up to seven weeks after production – doesn’t surprise me either.

Modern packaging keeps meat fresher for longer, as long as it is stored correctly. Likewise, if I notice my eggs are a week past their best-before date, I’m not concerned because I know the simple way to tell if they’re still OK. It’s a common-sense approach but I’m aware that, increasingly, I’m in the minority.

Far more common is what has been dubbed ‘best-before paranoia’ – a growing obsession about perceived food freshness which is leading to vast amounts of edible food going to waste each year.

More than 720 million eggs are needlessly thrown away every year in the UK just because they have passed their official ‘best-before’ dates, according to recent research released by the food waste app Too Good To Go.

Mountains – about 7.3 million tons, – of fruit and vegetables, bread and dried goods are also binned because the packet says they would have been better a day or two earlier.

Such is the concern that the Government has already begun an initiative to reduce by half what it calls ‘avoidable household food’ waste, and supermarkets – including Tesco – have begun to remove best-before dates in an attempt to tackle the problem.

Food labelling was introduced in Britain in 1980. Before that, we all just smelled meat, or had a sip of milk, to see if they were off.

Best-before dates are not about safety but quality. Food producers, who want to ensure that consumers get their food when it is at its best, devise these using a variety of criteria which may be tests in the laboratory, mathematical modelling or just based on experience.

Display-until or sell-by dates are also used by supermarkets and food shops to rotate their stock so they know when food is past its prime.

Use-by dates, on the other hand, are strict cut-off times for foods that go off quickly, such as meat products, fish, dairy food and bagged salads. If you ignore these, you could end up with a nasty dose of food poisoning.

But even then, there is no hard-and-fast rule: food can spoil before its ‘use-by’ date if it’s left out of the fridge, for example.

Pregnant women, babies and the elderly, and those with health conditions that compromise the immune system, should never take risks. But the truth is, it IS possible to safely eat many foods well after their ‘expiry’ date.

So how do you tell if food is fresh without relying on the label?

To try to give some answers, we assessed a weekly shop, bought on April 16, 2019 – and suggest how long it may be safe to eat, despite what it may say on the label.

EGGS

Best Before: May 4, 2019

New date: June 4, 2019

Due to their shell, eggs can stay fresh for months without needing to be kept in the fridge.

The Food Standards Agency has said eggs can be safely eaten up to two days past the date shown, as long as they are cooked to the point the yolk and the white are solid. But this is a cautious estimate.

In many cases, fresh eggs are edible three to four weeks beyond the best-before date normally stamped on the carton.

An easy way to check that eggs are still edible is to pop them in a bowl of water. See the panel, below right, for details.

BEEF STEAK

Use By: April 24, 2019

New date: April 25, 2019

How long you can keep red meat safely before eating depends on the type of meat and how it is packaged and stored. Make sure it is kept at ideally -1C to -2C, but definitely below 5C.

Typically you can eat whole cuts of beef (rather than mince, which perishes far faster) between five to 16 days after you buy it.

This is helpful if you buy your meat from a stall or independent butcher who doesn’t have to provide use-by labels. But if there is a use-by date, eat no later than 24 hours after that date. After this meat will quickly spoil, which makes the decision easy to make.

Meat that has gone off takes on a brown or grey colour and a dull appearance. Hold it close to your nose and it will smell unpleasant. If you start cooking it and it smells nasty, just chuck it immediately without tasting.

As last week’s study suggested, vacuum-packed meat may last longer because there is no air to allow the proliferation of microbes, and this slows decomposition.

CHICKEN FILLETS

Use By: April 19, 2019

New date: April 20, 2019

Even when kept in a refrigerator, raw poultry will only be fit to eat one day after its use-by date. Never eat chicken that is more than 24 hours past its use-by date, and only go past this date at all if the chicken has been kept chilled.

Raw chicken can harbour bacteria such as salmonella and campylobacter, which can multiply to dangerous levels when left too long. Sometimes there’s no way to tell by looking or sniffing, though chicken that is really off smells a bit like ammonia.

WHOLE TROUT

Use By: April 17, 2019

New date: April 17-18, 2019

Fresh fish should be eaten by its use-by date, or within the following 24 hours at a push.

It should smell of the sea, but a very fishy smell actually suggests your fish is already past its best.

Fish fillets should glisten and be firm, not soggy. If you buy a fish whole with head on, check that its eyes are clear and the scales are intact. Any visible blood should be red, not brown.

Smoked fish, such as smoked salmon or kippers, can last up to three days in the fridge after the use-by date as the curing process helps to preserve the flesh for longer.

SEMI-SKIMMED MILK

Use By: April 22, 2019

New date: April 24, 2019

Unopened semi-skimmed milk will usually last two days after its use-by date, and sometimes longer. Off milk separates, so it looks watery with lumps, and has a sour smell. If you’re still not sure, take a sip to check if it is on the turn – it isn’t going to kill you.

Milk with less fat lasts longer.

Butter can last for weeks after its use-by date in the fridge, but can go rancid if kept at room temperature for more than a few days. You can also easily tell if butter is rancid by the taste – it’ll be very unpleasant.

Yogurt can usually still be consumed one or two days after its use-by date if kept in the fridge. If it tastes unpleasant, it’s probably time to throw it away.

You can freeze milk and butter for up to three months.

CHEDDAR CHEESE

Best Before: July 24, 2019

New date: September 4, 2019

Hard cheese can be safe to eat for six weeks after its best-before date if kept refrigerated, as long as you cut away any visible mould.

Parmesan rinds freeze well for up to three months and they can be added directly to soups and stews.

Soft cheese such as brie and camembert can stay good to eat for up to a week after the best-before date, but less if opened. Don’t eat them if there is any mould, as this can grow alongside nasty bacteria such as listeria and E.coli.

SLICED BREAD

Best Before: April 19, 2019

New date: April 26, 2019

Properly stored, packaged sliced bread will last for five to seven days after its best-before date at normal room temperature. Putting bread in the fridge, even in its packet, will make it go stale more quickly because it speeds up the recrystalisation of starch in the bread. If you have a whole loaf which is not sliced or packaged, keep it in a sealed bread bin.

Bread can last for six months if frozen.

If your bread develops a little blue mould, just cut it off, taking a few centimetres away from around the mould to ensure you have cut away all the fungal threads. Throw away any bread that has developed black mould.

BAGGED SALAD

Use By: April 19, 2019

New date: April 20, 2019

Pre-cut salads can last 24 hours after the use-by date if the bag is unopened. Otherwise, stick to the date. If you open the bag and a whiff of decay comes out, bin the whole bag, whatever the date on the packet.

Don’t take risks – BBC researchers in 2016 found evidence that the environment inside a salad bag is the ideal breeding ground for salmonella, which can cause nasty food poisoning. There have also been E.coli outbreaks linked to contaminated salad.

POTATOES

Best Before: April 23, 2019

New date: May 14, 2019

Potatoes can be perfectly edible three weeks after their best-before date. If they’ve gone green and are sprouting in small patches, cut off these areas and eat the rest.

If they’ve gone mouldy, cut away these sections, as long as what you’re going to eat is creamy-coloured and firm. If they’ve gone soft, they’re still edible, but they don’t taste very nice.

STRAWBERRY JAM

Best Before: February 2021

New date: February 2022

Jams and preserves – high in sugar, which is a natural preservative – in jars can last from six months to a year unopened after their best-before dates, and I have enjoyed jams that are years old. Once opened, they’re usually good for at least a month if stored in the fridge.

If there is mould growing on the surface of your sugary jam you can scrape it off, like Prime Minister Theresa May claims to do, but make sure that you take off the top two or three centimetres since fungal spores can penetrate some distance into the jam and are invisible to the naked eye. If it’s unpleasant-tasting, chuck it.

DRIED PASTA

Best Before: October 30, 2021

New date: October 30, 2023

Pasta and rice can last for two years after best-before dates if dry and well-sealed.

They are unlikely to grow mould or bacteria, but they do lose flavour as they age and discolour.

Fresh pasta that is unopened should last a week after its best-before date in the fridge, but only a day or two if it is open.

Uncooked white rice can last for months after its best-before date, and uncooked brown rice can usually be eaten up to a month after a best-before date – the oils within it eventually go rancid.

TINNED TOMATOES

Best Before: December 2020

New date: December 2021

Canned foods typically have long best-before dates, and tinned tomatoes or other vegetables like beans can last for a year at least after this, as long as the can is sealed, and it’s been kept in a cool, dark place.

Once opened, remove contents from the tin and store in a sealed container. Don’t eat if the contents smell unpleasant or if there is any mould growth.

Throw away any cans with damage such as dents, leaks or bulges.

PIES AND MEATS

Use By: April 23, 2019

New date: April 23, 2019

Cooked meats, including processed pies, should be eaten within their use-by date as they can cause serious food poisoning.

Processed meats can harbour listeria, a bacteria introduced during the manufacturing process that can give you nasty food poisoning.

It is essential to keep cooked meats at the correct low temperature in your fridge.

Most refrigerators operate at 5C on average, but some can operate at an average temperature of up to 14C. So check your fridge temperature – some models display it. If yours doesn’t, get a fridge thermometer.