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Now although I’d like to think of myself as a bit of a James Bond (I can hear my wife chortling), the truth is I’m not really a gambling man. While I might be tempted to hedge my bets in the Grand National, or on the 2p penny fall machines on Brighton Pier, I’d steer well clear of playing Russian roulette with use-by dates on food.

That’s why I was particularly perturbed by Jonathan Maitland’s use by dates 'experiment' reported in the Mail on Sunday yesterday. It reminded me of the type of justification some smokers used years ago – they could always point to their Great Aunt Bess who smoked her self silly for 50 years and never had a health problem. There’s always one, but would you advocate smoking on the back of this? Fortunately, food safety policy is based on sound science rather than meaningless experiments of one subject.

Our launch of the GermWatch campaign today highlights the high number of food poisoning cases in the summer. Annual incidence of foodborne diseases appears to be on the increase and that’s why I worry that Jonathan's article might encourage some to disregard the use-by date.

Use-by dates are something you shouldn’t ignore and are set by manufacturers following detailed risk assessments to establish the likelihood of contamination and the survival of bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

Although Jonathan might have been OK eating these products, someone else could have become seriously ill. If you’re pregnant, elderly, a child or have an underlying illness getting food poisoning could be more than unpleasant, it could put your life at risk. See more information about use-by dates, and the difference between them and best before dates.

One final thought for Jonathan – listeria (a serious foodborne bacteria which can grow in the out of date houmous he ate) can take up to 70 days to cause symptoms. You’re not out of the woods yet…