Out of Date goods

helena4_2

Hi

I went into my local shop to buy a Mars bar, I didnt notice it was 1 month out of date until I got home, I feel a bit of a fool buying it as the shop owners must know, I dont they are doing well at the mo but its not a reason to keep out of date goods for sale.

I probably would keep chocolate for a couple of weeks out of date at home and still eat it but thats different its my choice, surely a shop shouldnt do this.

I bought marg at the same shop that was out of date before and returned it for another make saying I dont want to risk it.

Have any of you returned small food items to local shops that were out of date?

Apricot

I think chocolate only has a "best before" date & they are still legally allowed to sell them. If it is a "use by" date then they are not allowed. Having said that next time I went in I would point it out as my shop does sometimes sell stuff past it's best before date but it's often much cheaper & they point out the reason.

The marg is more likely to have a use by date and if these things were regularly sold you could perhaps call environmental health & ask them to check it out.

carlsberggal

In my opinion they should sell best before if it had gone by that date unless it was reduced. Chocolate can go a funny white colour when it's past it's best. Use by dates is a different thing, they shouldn't sell it IMO. It's ok to do whatever you want with foodstuff in your own home but a shop is different. I use the does it look ok, does it smell ok, does it taste ok rule in my home, but surely shops shouldn't?

pigpen

I'd eat it and mention it next time I went in!

carlsberggal

Piggers - are you stalking me?!!!

BitterAndTwisted

Chocolate only gets that white bloom on it if it's been too warm. It's only the fat seeping to the surface and does not affect the edibility. Very little does!

I probably wouldn't care if I bought a choccy bar past it's "best before" date as choccy can keep for years in the right conditions.

Running_Horse

helena4 wrote: »

the shop owners must know

Why do you assume that? They must sell hundreds of items, and I doubt they check all stock for dates every day. Why not take it back and give them a chance to put it right? We have just been eating one month out of date mince pies at work. So far no one has died.