Are you peeved off at supermarket use by dates?

DCFC79

nesssie1702 wrote: »

Some supermarkets are not good at rotating their stock and therefore the dates can appear "short"

That would be the member of staff doing it

NineThreeNine

nesssie1702 wrote: »

Some supermarkets are not good at rotating their stock and therefore the dates can appear "short"

This is a real problem with fruit and veg (or produce, as the Tesco people call it.) The usual workers didn't do a good job at my old store. It's quite easy to understand why this occurs. The dates for the stuff is on little pieces of card on the boxes, these will often fall off... so no date (grr...) Secondly, rotating the stock is rather demanding, as the stuff is HEAVY!

lexuslass

I agree totally. I stopped using the home delivery services for this reason!

I had a few instances where fruit and veg didn't last but another example was when I had a delivery from Asda, I ordered two packs of salmon fillets which cost £5 or £6 and when I came to use them (two days before the date that was on them), they were off..I was heaving cause they stank so much when I opened them! I had to bin them and find something else to cook for dinner! I couldn't stomach keeping them and having to put them in the car to take them back to the store to complain!


I don't know if this is a storage problem from when the stuff is picked from the shelves until it's put into the delivery vans or what but I would hope that all supermarkets are quite strict about keeping refridgerated items cool?

Another thing that annoys me is the 'buy one get one free' offers on veg... Why can't they just offer the items at half price instead of this? The amount of times I have used (for example) a pack of broccoli and then come to use the next one a day or so later and it's all stinky and it's been thrown away! :rolleyes:

I had looked at these veggie boxes in the past that you can get delivered, but do they genuinely last? and do you actually get big enough portions to last more than one or two dinners?

Plushchris

We dont buy anything "fresh" in supermarkets these days it never lasts more than a couple of days. We get meat from the local butchers which not only last longer but tastes a lot nicer too and we get our fruit and veg from the farmshop in our village. We have even started buying bread from the village shop rather than the supermarket as it seems to last a lot longer, even if its 10-20p more.

hollydays

I always freeze meat I buy from supermarkets straight away.

the-chauffeur_2

Don't forget that not all dates on foodstuffs are equal.

Use By - means exactly that. These dates are usually used on fresh food with very limited shelf-life even when refrigerated (like prawns and fish).

Sell By - basically means that the shop needs to have moved the stock off of its shelves by the date shown. These dates are used on food that is less likely to spoil - and will stay good for a few days after the date shown, particularly when refrigerated (like cold meats)

Best Before - the least descriptive of the three. Best before dates give the buyer very little useful information, other than in the manufacturer's opinion, the product is at its best if used before the date shown. Whereas the other two dates inform the consumer that there is a finite timescale within which the product will remain usable (and safe), Best Before appears on things like bottled water and tinned foods - neither of which deteriorate noticeably over long periods of time (when unopened).

All of these labels assume usage in ideal world conditions - in other words, that the products are kept in perfect storage, and that the user also has unlimited funds with which to replace those items that pass their dates - and they obviously can't take account of the use of freezers. Naturally, I wouldn't suggest anyone ignore them completely; instead, use common sense and don't automatically assume that there's no leeway with the dates on packets.

hollydays

no-I'm not peeved off,I am p'd off

debtworrier

lexuslass wrote: »

Another thing that annoys me is the 'buy one get one free' offers on veg... Why can't they just offer the items at half price instead of this? The amount of times I have used (for example) a pack of broccoli and then come to use the next one a day or so later and it's all stinky and it's been thrown away! :rolleyes:

This is because BOGOF is cheaper from the supermarket's point of view when the wholesale cost of the item is less than the profit margin.

e.g. wholesale cost 30p. Price on shelf 80p.
Cost of BOGOF to the store is 60p so they're still making 20p profit.
Half price is 40p, so if you buy two items they still make 20p, but if you only buy one then they only make 10p profit. By offering bogof they effectively deny you the opportunity to only buy one item.

--and as you point out, with perishable items you'll often end up binning the "free" item anyway (even if it's freezable, the extra hassle will mean a number of people think "oh, I'll do it later - and then it's black gunge in the bottom of the fridge next time you* look) That means that you'll have to use up something else instead - and guess who probably sold that to you?

*well, okay. When I look. :whistle: