sold meat 3 days out of "use by date"

pulliptears

whatever happened to the good old 'sniff test'? Whilst I appreciate OP shouldn't have been sold out of date meat, it was in all probability perfectly fine to eat, had that happened to me I'd have probably had a little word with customer services on my next shop but cooked it and ate it.
I have so much out of date stuff in my fridge its untrue! I have jars of Jam that if you believe the label should have been thrown 4 weeks after opening, it doesn't smell, it isn't green, it tastes fine!
Use your eyes and your nose! In the case of eggs use the float test, but for goodness sake please stop throwing away perfectly good food based on a date!

benrsmith31077

Being past the Use-by renders it unfit.

Think the OP was totally right to kick up such a fuss. Hopefully the shop in questions has tightened up its stock rotation procedures.


To those that think OP was over-reacting, that meat could have made some one very ill or even killed someone elderly or frail. The manager should have been aware of that and aware that he could be prosecuted if it did. An immediate apology, refund and investigation into why it was sold would have been appropriate in this case.

pulliptears

benrsmith31077 wrote: »

Being past the Use-by renders it unfit.

Think the OP was totally right to kick up such a fuss. Hopefully the shop in questions has tightened up its stock rotation procedures.


To those that think OP was over-reacting, that meat could have made some one very ill or even killed someone elderly or frail. The manager should have been aware of that and aware that he could be prosecuted if it did. An immediate apology, refund and investigation into why it was sold would have been appropriate in this case.

How do you know this? Did you smell the meat? See the meat? Unfortunately life doesn't work on "could have" and I think you are perhaps over egging it a little with those comments. Mistakes happen.

squeaky

From this site: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/foodlabels/asksamlabellingrules/

I bought a sandwich and when I got home I realised that its 'use by' date was two days ago. What should I do?

Don't eat the sandwich. You shouldn't eat any food product that has passed its 'use by' date, because it might not be safe to eat. In fact, it's illegal for shops to sell food after its 'use by' date.

You could take the sandwich back to the shop where you bought it and ask for an exchange or refund. Or you could contact the trading standards or environmental health service at your local authority. It is their responsibility to investigate if they think a shop is not obeying the law, and to take appropriate action. If you decide to contact your local authority, you may need to make a statement and give them the food product and packaging as evidence.

But remember that 'use by' dates are different to other dates you may see on food products. It's not illegal for shops to sell food after its 'best before', 'sell by' or 'display until' date.

giz1972

vuvuzelaBit of a drama queen over-reaction "probably be another few years before my confidence returns to shop with them again"

Ohhhhhh you are awful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VUVUZELA (A mind-numbing torture device made of cheap, brightly colored plastic. It resembles a horn but its monotone pitch cannot be changed)

OopsadaisySue them, get compo, spend it on fags and booze...job done.

Don't drink, Don't smoke.....Just work and play and pay tax.

andy.mOP, with respect; if you are not going to shop there for a few years yet, why do you suppose that they will give a hoot about you?
Why do you also feel you are entitled to compo, at best it should be either refunded or replaced joint with a small contribution towards your petrol for the repeat journey.

It's obvious Andy M you know nothing about supermarkets or retail in general and why and how they keep customers. If you have a good experience, you tell a couple of people, if you have a bad experience, you tell everyone. I normally keep to the same supermarket due to customer satisfaction, sometimes trying the other big 3.
As for selling out of date "use by", it's illegal and damaging to the company name and store and not forgetting prosecution. As for the petrol (now over £1.30 a litre) and the meat, thats all i wanted as a good will gesture for kicking them up the backside for there shambolic rotation process. Ohh did i say how far i had to travel to take it back? ummmmmmmm....... no!
......................................................................................

Thanks for the many replys, although it wasn't a debate on "use by", "sell by" or "best before", i was simply telling a situation and asking if i was a little harsh towards the manager and if i was being unfair in asking for a little bit more than a refund (my petrol costs back and maybe the product in date, free).
I even said to the manager before i left, if he had appologised for my inconvienience and been more helpful with following complaints procedures properly then i wouldn't of been a mans private part towards him.

I forgot to say that i know all about the above dates as i work in the food industry and assess in food manufacture. The date laws and procedures sounds great in theory but when you put it into action when a serious offence happens with a store selling well out of date "USE BY", they just want to brush it aside and fob customers off with a crappy refund.
They could of been prosecuted and fined if i really wanted to play the game, all i wanted was to make them aware that their work practices needed to be addressed and there standards needed to be better (not one day out of date, 3 days!!!!!).

I would of liked to have phoned the store first so they could take action, but this supermarket doesn't give out numbers, they have no customer service, so had no choice but to make the journey back and speak to them cold. I would of used them again soon, before this happening but will be keeping to what i know for the time being.

As for checking for dates, yeah!! hands up, i'm normally on the ball but as i was on and off the phone to my wife, this was my downfall and led to me being distracted.
As for the phone call from the area manager, it's 5pm and no call, he must be busy with the opening of the new store 2 miles from me. Maybe i'll give him until tomorrow before i contact head office.
As i said, poor customer service and no customer satisfaction.

go_cat

mo786uk wrote: »

Report it to Trading Standards for info. If the same shop is a continual problem then they can use your complaint in helping decide whether to do anything.

Having worked for a large supermarket the managers usually want to deal with htings themselves. They don't want to call the higher managers because they are usually busy. In the supermarket I worked at you would have to go through about 4 layers of management before you got to the area manager so I guess it wasn't that chain. Supermarkets are a big beast, hence why they may not always be able to offer quick answers instore.

It should be reported to environmental health not trading standards

As the supermarket have your meat they won't be able to do much but log it as a complaint however if they start to get several complaints they may pay them an inpromtu visit

benrsmith31077

pulliptears wrote: »

How do you know this? Did you smell the meat? See the meat? Unfortunately life doesn't work on "could have" and I think you are perhaps over egging it a little with those comments. Mistakes happen.

No, I am not. A Use-by date is not a guide, it is an absolute for a reason. It indicates that food past this date is unfit for consumption because it is dangerous, therefore I do not need to see it or smell it. I have owned restuarants and pubs and food hygiene is paramount for this very reason.

I agree mistakes happen, which is why I suggested the manager should have investigated and tightened up procedures. It is his job to ensure that this kind of mistake doesn't happen again. It was his apparent lack of concern that bothered me. He should have known that he could be liable in the event of illness or worse. And believe me, if they get involved the FSA won't take the view that 'Mistakes happen'. There has been cases of prosecutions resulting in jail sentances for manslaughter. And quite rightly IMO

Your comment about life not 'working on could have' is absolutely irrelevent I am afraid. That attitude has been rife in the food service industry and it has caused serious illness and actual deaths from food poisoning.

Hey but it's ok to sell people dangerous food because life doesn't work on 'could have' does it? Sure that was a comfort to the families of the 500 dead from food poisoning in the UK last year and to the 100,000 who suffered serious illness (out of 850 000 with lesser illness). Most of which could have been prevented if it hadn't been for poor controls and bad practice as demonstrated by the aforementioned manager!

Money_User

benrsmith31077 wrote: »

No, I am not. A Use-by date is not a guide, it is an absolute for a reason. It indicates that food past this date is unfit for consumption because it is dangerous, therefore I do not need to see it or smell it. I have owned restuarants and pubs and food hygiene is paramount for this very reason.

I agree mistakes happen, which is why I suggested the manager should have investigated and tightened up procedures. It is his job to ensure that this kind of mistake doesn't happen again. It was his apparent lack of concern that bothered me. He should have known that he could be liable in the event of illness or worse. And believe me, if they get involved the FSA won't take the view that 'Mistakes happen'. There has been cases of prosecutions resulting in jail sentances for manslaughter. And quite rightly IMO

Your comment about life not 'working on could have' is absolutely irrelevent I am afraid. That attitude has been rife in the food service industry and it has caused serious illness and actual deaths from food poisoning.

Hey but it's ok to sell people dangerous food because life doesn't work on 'could have' does it? Sure that was a comfort to the families of the 500 dead from food poisoning in the UK last year and to the 100,000 who suffered serious illness (out of 850 000 with lesser illness). Most of which could have been prevented if it hadn't been for poor controls and bad practice as demonstrated by the aforementioned manager!

Well I'm going to have to join Pulliptears with the people who eat food past it's use-by date and haven't managed to fall over and die yet.

If you need a nanny state tell tell you what to do, when to eat, drink go out of your house then fine. Most of us will get by with common sense.

We got on fine with no use-by/bbf dates in the past without millions dieing in their masses. Perhaps the figures you quote are due to some having lower immune systems now due to the fact they and their parents wrap themselves in cotton wool and don't develop as good immune systems. This isn't fiction, it's becoming increasingly well known http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/health-advice/2009/01/26/are-we-overprotecting-our-kids-from-infection

benrsmith31077

Money_User wrote: »

Well I'm going to have to join Pulliptears with the people who eat food past it's use-by date and haven't managed to fall over and die yet.

If you need a nanny state tell tell you what to do, when to eat, drink go out of your house then fine. Most of us will get by with common sense.

We got on fine with no use-by/bbf dates in the past without millions dieing in their masses. Perhaps the figures you quote are due to some having lower immune systems now due to the fact they and their parents wrap themselves in cotton wool and don't develop as good immune systems. This isn't fiction, it's becoming increasingly well known http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/health-advice/2009/01/26/are-we-overprotecting-our-kids-from-infection

Right you can file all this 'I eat off food and I am fine' stuff with "and my grandad smoked every day and lived to be 100" Do I really have to point out that that means absolutely nothing. Do I really have to point out that you are one person and what does not affect you might affect someone else?

As for the immune system thing, I don't doubt it but how is it relevant? If I run over a cripple tomorrow is that ok? because after all if he hadn't been crippled he would have been able to get out of the way!

I am trying to make the point that just because nothing bad happened this time does not make it ok to go "Oh fine lets forget all about it, learn nothing and take no steps to ensure it doesn't happen again!" Taking that route ensures that it will happen again and eventually someone will die.

Also, I do not think this is anything to do with nannying, it is to do with sensible laws about proper food hygiene and handling. In this case someone could have unsuspectingly eaten dangerous food and died. You really think it is nannying to suggest that a shop that has sold dangerous food should apologise and implement procedures to stop that occurring again? Shall I repeat that people have died because of this unacceptable attitude to food safety? Has it sunk in yet? Can you not see how unacceptable that is?

gordikin

Benrsmith can you give a link to the 500, 100,000 and 850,000 figures you quoted for last year?