Selling out of date items

taxiphil

trader_girl wrote: »

I suggest the OP has a talk to trading standards, and some of you learn the law before yuo start quoting myths,

I'm glad you raised the subject of myths, since you appear to have peddled one yourself:

trader_girl wrote: »

it is not Illegal to sell goods past thier best before date

That's not true - it may or may not be illegal, depending on the foodstuff involved and the time that has lapsed since the expiry date. That's a decision for the authorities to make.

Clearly it would be absurd to say that everything is safe to eat forever.

charlesworth82

i dont blame the poster one bit - its the shops responsibility to make sure there food is in date - what kind of loser checks all the dates on everything they buy.

bmth123

trader_girl wrote: »

it is not Illegal to sell goods past thier best before date as long as the customer is made aware of the fact either at point of sale or at the till.
IT IS illegal to sell goods after their sell by and use by date.
I suggest the OP has a talk to trading standards, and some of you learn the law before yuo start quoting myths,

Just to clarify - it is not illegal to sell after the sell by date.

The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 contains the offence to sell an item (or offer to sell/expose for sale etc) past the use by date indicated on the product.

The Food Safety Act 1990 contain the offence to sell items that are not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser - this is an area with a lot of caselaw but this is basically where an item sold after the best before MIGHT fit into the equation. The offence has a defence connected with it but if the store had sold the item after the best before date indicated on the product they would potentially struggle to satisfy this defence IF there was a problem with the product.

The legislation does not (to the best of my knowledge) make reference to sell by dates. As I previously commented, these are put on products to assist stores with stock rotation and are frequently used on products that do not legally require a minimum durability indication.

Sorry for the long post but this is an area that many people I speak to seem to get a little confused by!

baddiebasher

Just to add to the above, there is no reference to sell by dates.

In terms of whether you should eat such an item, use by dates are for products that would pose a risk from a microbiological point of view if consumed after that date. Best before will just be a deterioration in quality.

The exception is eggs which must not be sold within a week of the expiry date given.

TIME2GROWUP_2

It would probably be advisable to contact your local Environmental Health Department about the premises selling out of date food so it can be investigated properly. It is an offence to sell food out of its 'use by date'.

Takoda

In our local paper last week a shop was fined more than a grand for selling out of date food.

baddiebasher

It happens more regularly than you would think. I have come across foodstuffs on sale 3 years beyond its best before date.

As it hapened, it would not really make a difference,as it was a powdered food colourant and not much harm, if any, would be done.

But the best advice is to use your eyes and nose.

If it looks off, don't buy it. If it smells off, don't eat it. This goes regardless of whether it is past an expiry date or not.