A MARMITE lover has revealed that she’s still using a jar of the spread that’s over EIGHT years out of date.
Karin Hackett’s jar shows a “best before” date of the end of 2010 but she enjoyed a bit of Marmite on toast a few days ago and insists it still tastes “absolutely fine”.
The 44-year-old from Norwich made her bizarre admission after Marmite lovers across the UK went online to find the oldest jar still in use.
Karin, a pianist, won the competition but numerous other Marmite enthusiasts provided proof that they’re still tucking in to jars several years after they should have been binned.
One claimed the famous yeast extract spread improves with age “like a fine wine”.
Leona Gear, 29, kicked off the competition when she challenged other fans of the spread.
The nurse, from Glasgow, posted a picture of the back of her own black and yellow jar, showing a best before end of “Aug 16”.
Above the the picture, she wrote a caption: “Just for fun, this is my Marmite.
“My Marmite is dated best before Aug 16. Can anyone beat me?
Karin’s winning post showed the back of her squeezable 200g Marmite tub which clearly showed a best before end date of November 2010.
The photo shows Marmite lying against a wooden surface, the back label slightly scratched and worn.
In middle of the label reads “BEST BEFORE END”, followed underneath by a series of numbers with the date: “Nov 10”.
Karin posted a caption above the picture, simply: “Erm…” with a shocked face icon.
About its edibility, she said: “I had this Marmite on toast for lunch today. It tastes absolutely fine.”
She added: “It will be in the cupboard forever.”
Sarah Hitchings commented underneath: “Impressive.”
Leona, who wrote the original post, also remarked: “Good effort.”
The second oldest jar was posted by Anne Rodgers, whose 250g jar of Marmite XO Extra Old Extract showed a best before date of: “Dec 11”.
The third oldest jar was photographed by Sarah Hitchings, who posted a picture of her 125g Marmite jar with a relatively youthful February 2015 best before end date.
When asked how it tasted, she replied: “Lovely.”
Another user in the group, David Moss, saw the discussion on out of date foods and posted a picture of homemade pickled plums purportedly from 1968.
He posted a picture of the musty looking jar with a label in the front reading: “1968”.
He wrote in a caption above: “Just got these pickled plums off the top shelf. Wait for it, 1968.”
Speaking today, Karin, who had the oldest jar of Marmite said: “The marmite will be in the cupboard for ever.
“I just ate some. It tasted absolutely fine.”
Leona, who wrote the original post and posted a picture of her own Marmite jar two and a half years past its best before date, said today: “I ate out of date Marmite on toast last week and it’s totally fine.
“A jar lasts me years because I only put a thin scraping on my toast, but it must have butter too.”
“And the thicker the bread the better too. Sometimes I even bake my own bread but my favourite ever was an unsliced loaf from a bakery that used to be in Shetland. It’s closed down now.”
Speaking about her history with jars of Marmite over the past decade, she added: “I think the last one was 2012, I did have a good look and a sniff but I didn’t particularly worry about it. It’s really just yeast.
“Maybe 2010 come to think of it. I think I bought it when I started uni which was 2007. This is my second jar in my 11 years in Glasgow. I use it sparingly.”
Marmite lovers posted on Facebook expressing admiration for their beloved spread.
Sarah Hitchings wrote: “It gets better with age, we’re just aging our own.”
Clare Quinsey said: “Doesn’t go out of date really. So salty and yummy whatever the age of the jar.”
Laura Saxton commented: “It never lasts a month in my house, love the stuff.”
Caroline Robards added: “I don’t think it ever goes off. Major part of lunch, couldn’t do without it.”
But there were some who weren’t as keen on the taste.
Jenna Jones remarked: “It’s vile when it’s in date so I doubt you’ll notice any difference.”
