"Shopping the Supermarkets" BBC1

stilernin

Phew........ who has just watched this programme?

Scarey, very very scarey........ I've not been a fan of chilled meals but this has really opened my eyes. I am more worried about frozen stuff too now.

This programme was about Asda, whistle blowers from their delivery drivers recounting times when food was not cold enough and just refrozen, chilled stuff is left in the yards whilst frozen is taken out, and pests on food in the yards!!

Watch the other programmes at 9.15am each morning this week, I think we'll learn a lot. Different subject, how stock is displayed and much more.......

comping_cat

Just watched this as well - certainly gives a lot to think about!!!!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

i didnt see it.. but will watch tomorrow though.......

mumoftwo

Great! something else to worry about! But it is good these things are exposed. We assume that food is treated as it should (chilled, frozen) by the supermarkets. Will try and watch the programme every day.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

can someone tell me what happened on the programme..in more detail ....please..... thanks...

recovering_spendaholic

I didn't see this programme but have heard many horror stories about pests and storage conditions. I think that if we imagine everything is totally sterile then we are deluding ourselves, but the fact is that food hygiene is probably much better now than it ever has been - years ago people lived perfectly healthy lives without refridgeration and most houses were troubled with mice and rats and stuff like that. The answer is to try as much as possible to move away from food which has had any kind of preparation, but that can be very difficult nowadays. I know an environmental health officer and he says that if people knew what went on in alot of restaurants then no-one would eat out! I try and buy fresh whole food wherever possible and I think that this is probably the safest way to purchase food. I watched a programme a few years ago about street people and it showed them going and getting employed, on a day by day basis for cash, by a plant which made sandwiches for supermarkets and garage forecourts - It horrified me as some of them were drug addicts and none of them looked particularly clean and I have never eaten packaged sandwiches again since.

surfsister

I've seen Iceland deliveries sitting in the shop unrefrigerated for a while!

stilernin

Frozen food should be kept at no more than -18 degrees thoughout the 'cold chain'. This is manufacturer to distribution depot to shop to home. Manufacturer interviewed, said they kept at -23.

Asda drivers said 'cold' lorries transported frozen and chilled on same lorry in different compartments. If delivering to two stores, chilled is taken out and left to one side whilst frozen comes out, then chilled for next store is put back in.

Frozen and chilled is not put into storage at stores immediately, can be left out for up to an hour.

Lorries can wait at store before unloading for up to 4hrs and at some places cold storage motor has to be switched off so as not to be noisey for local residents.

All the above seems 'normal'.

In some instances, food in lorries has defrosted and should have been destroyed and distribution manager said it had to be refrozen and sent out. Drivers forewarned the store which refused it so it went back to depot. Once back at depot, food was put back in to storage and could then be sent out to several different stores!!

Many storage yards were open to rats and birds which were seen on fresh fruit and veg......... Also, the packaging that is caged for recycling which is in the yard and open to pests is put in the empty lorries for the return journey. At Christmas some of this packaging was available to pests for several weeks!!!! The lorries should be cleaned before the food is then put back in but the numbers of cleaning staff is always being reduced.

At least Asda were brave enough to be interviewed...... I'm sure that this isn't unique to one supermarket.

TKP_3

Thank you, I will watch from tomorrow. I don't buy meat, fruit, veg or milk fromt he supermarket, and watching something like that reinforces why! Interesting too - how do they get away with so much? Why is nothing done? If it is because they are "big companies" with lots of clout, then we need to relook at how this country works!

ivyleaf

I've sometimes found the assistants at my local Asda banging packs of frozen veg on the edge of the freezer cabinet before putting them out for sale because they were frozen into solid blocks. I always suspected it was because they'd partially thawed and then been refrozen - it seems I was right! Also found ice cream from there full of ice crystals, presumably for the same reason.:eek:

echo

can you imagine having a storage depot next to a rubbish tip and with rats running around? i certainly wouldn't shop @ asda's in that town.