M&S Use by dates

Tiddlywinks

samwardill wrote: »

Absolutely I have double standards. If I pay M&S price for meat I expect quality. My expectation of quality includes having more than 24 hours to consume it (without having to check use by dates on everything I buy). I am sometimes prepared to expect a lower standard (and limited shelf life) but not at the same price!

If this is your problem then you are very lucky indeed.

You had a choice - buy them or not buy them - you picked them up, walked to the till, joined the queue and then paid for them. Ample time really to glance at the date. You chose not to.

M&S didn't do anything illegal did they? In complaining, you were hoping for some "compen-say-shun" from customer services, they didn't play ball and now you're stamping your feet.

No sympathy here I'm afraid.

richardvc

samwardill wrote: »

I bought some sausages yesterday from M&S. I came to use them today and they were out of date. ?

Sadly, this seems to be common practice these days ! The retailers just want their cash and ignore any good practice !

I root through all the stuff now to get the longest dates and if the dates are that short would rather go without !

rammy007

What if they had gone straight in the freezer,which is what i sometimes do with certain things you would have been non the wiser.I get fed up with all this out of date lark even my kids get really picky when theres really no need for certain things.

bc3000

I actually agree with the OP; not everyone has the time to check best before dates and at M&S I'd expect better, maybe that's just me though.. obviously things keep for longer than they say but what if you're giving that food to someone elderly/ill/kids/etc? Who has the time to check the best before date if they bought it a couple of days earlier?

PolishBigSpender

torchie wrote: »

This culture of yellow-ticket reductions is creating greed amongst some people and probably those that need the reductions the most because of their personal circumstances are the ones least able to be at the supermarket at the 'magic time'.

The "yellow ticket reduction" culture does get rather amusing in the UK. This site shows it quite well - people have an attitude that "it should be reduced" and completely fail to recognise that it is entirely dependent on the goodwill of the retailer.

However, I'd say that M&S really don't need customers who demand discounts.

Contains_Mild_Peril

torchie wrote: »

Surely a supermarket should only reduce goods if they think they are not going to sell them by the close of business, not just because of the date on them. If a shop has 30 of an item with a use by date of today but in an average day they sell 50 of them, then if they have any kind of commmercial common sense, they will not reduce them.

Not necessarily. If we're assuming that fresher goods are on the shelf at the same time (behind/under the older ones), your hypothetical example works only if customers who actually check dates are in a minority. Also, if a shop normally sells food on its use-by date at full price, this may encourage shoppers to go elsewhere. Some customers will go to supermarkets known for reduced-to-clear bargains and buy their usual full-price stuff there as well; and some want to buy fresh items safe in the knowledge that anything which should be eaten the same day will normally have been reduced so they don't need to check dates on every item they buy. Dates on food can sometimes be difficult to locate and read, especially for customers with poor eyesight, and some people simply don't have time to check everything when shopping.
I normally check dates on items with a short shelf life such as milk, bread and meat, but I once got caught out with a jar of sandwich spread on which I didn't check the BB date until after I tried the spread and found it tasted quite unpleasant. I then looked at the date and found it had expired several months before I bought the product. When I returned it to the shop they checked the shelf and found a few more jars the same age.

samwardill

moonrakerz wrote: »

The Law makes it an offence to sell an item which has less than 24/72/96 hrs left on its "sell by" date - but of course this cannot now be called a "sell-by" date any more. BUT the Law says that meat must have a "sell-by" date NOT a "best before" date.........(This is real Alice in Wonderland stuff now)

There is no Alice in Wonderland here. The law says that perishable foods (such as meat) must have a 'use by' date, not a 'sell by' date. It is illegal to sell food after the 'use by' date and the government recommends that you do not eat food after the 'use by' date.

It is the choice of the retailer how long before the 'use by' date to sell products (and whether to reduce products close to (or on) their 'use by' date. It would be simple for M&S to change their policy to reduce all items sold on their 'use by' date. Alternatively they could (as some other manufacturers do) print on a 'sell by' date that was 1 or 2 days before the 'use by' date. I would not advocate the latter choice.

samwardill

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

The "yellow ticket reduction" culture does get rather amusing in the UK. This site shows it quite well - people have an attitude that "it should be reduced" and completely fail to recognise that it is entirely dependent on the goodwill of the retailer.

However, I'd say that M&S really don't need customers who demand discounts.

M&S is dependant on the goodwill of its customers. It will rapidly lose a portion of these customers if they feel that they are being sold substandard goods (i.e. those with short shelf life) at high (unreduced)prices.

I think M&S does need customers who demand quality. This is their USP!

dealer_2

There are some funny posts here. I am not sure in what shops most people have been shopping in but common sense should mean you check the food you are buying to see if it will last until you want to eat it.

But going back to the orginal posters point about short shelf life at M&S. There is a reason for that. Its called preservatives. Anyone can make a product packed with chemicals that last for ages. Most people filled there stomaches full of the stuff in the 1990's. Since then there has been a drive through all retailers to remove as much muck as possible. Some retailers are further along the road to being preservative free than others. Thats why Asda lamb shanks last 3 weeks and M&S's 1 week. Just read the back of the packets and make your choice.

As for comments about use by and sell by. M&S end life when there is a chance of a change in taste or appearance. It is the minimum life as shown by tests on samples of the product. An awful lot of people will notice no difference if the eat it beyond that date. But to cover themselves all retailers put an end date, a use or sell by. Apart from Fish that goes off very quickly I personaly would have no issue with eating most things a couple of days beyond life.

chelms38

Stompa wrote: »

I hope you pointed it out to the staff. I once found some potato salad in Iceland that was more than 6 months past it's sell by date - now that I wouldn't have eaten!

Yes,I do make a point of letting the manager and fellow shoppers know what I found on the shelves.