Shops selling out of date food...

N20Y1D

My wife has just noticed that some margerine/butter i bought in Tesco last week which had a best best before date of the 16th of jan?

I am going back tonight to see if its still on the shelves and if so i will create merry hell especially as we use this on toast fingers for our baby...

Just wondered if anyone knows of any crime they have commited/laws they have broken? So when i speak to the manager i can sound like i know what I'm talking about?

NiceGuyG

Tesco's are very good like that, are you sure this was not an isolated incident??

eyelinerprincess

I'm sure it would be an isolated incident. Where I work, and our shop is small, code checks are undertaken daily and if anything is seen to be out of date, someone is on it as soon as possible.

N20Y1D

NiceGuyG wrote:

Tesco's are very good like that, are you sure this was not an isolated incident??

I couldn't care less. They make enough in profit to make sure they have the technology/people checking every date of every food related product.
This was almost a month over, and it was a tescos product.

N20Y1D

eyelinerprincess wrote:

I'm sure it would be an isolated incident. Where I work, and our shop is small, code checks are undertaken daily and if anything is seen to be out of date, someone is on it as soon as possible.

This was over a month past the date!

Purchased on the 7th of Feb

Display until 8th Jan 07

Best before 16th Jan 07

eyelinerprincess

It happens sometimes, I won't deny it. And human error could come into play, the person checking may have thought it said the 16th Feb.

bri365

Have a chat with trading standards. Their are laws governing this sort of thing. If you take the product back you'll probally get an attempt at an apologie and maybe if your lucky a couple of quid in vouchers. If it is still on the shelves, try to take a picture of it maybe on your mobile or something and send this picture to trading standards along with your complaint.
I work in retail and know for a fact that there is a fine of £1000 per item out of stock on shelves. Good luck.

Labman_2

It's been missed when the date checking has been done. Take it back and get it replaced.

olly300

Was the date a "use by" or a "best before"? The difference is very important.

If it was a "best before" unless it was obvious the food wasn't safe i.e. the "best before" date was a year ago then Tesco can get away with it. You can eat margarine and other food like crisps after their "best before" dates with no ill affects.

As a kid as we use to get cheap crisps/biscuits of the market that where sold up to a month past their "best before" date. (They sold other stuff but it looked off.) After 2 months the stuff tastes stale. Also one of my friends' had a go at me in a shared house when I threw their margarine which was 2 months out of date away. (I was ok to throw away out of date yoghurts, eggs and ham but not the margarine.) If you cook with out of date margarine it separates but eating it spread is fine.

If the margarine had a "use by" date then they are in trouble and you should report them to the the local environmental health department first. Don't bother going back to the store to complain until you have contacted the environmental health as they will try and cover it up. "Use by" is used for food that can poison you i.e. meat, yoghurt, butter

Below are two links that explain the difference:

http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/guidancenotes/labelregsguidance/usebydateguid

http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/labellingterms/bestbefore/

With Tesco and Sainsburys sell out of date products all the time. Marks and Spencers also sometimes have out of date stuff on their shelves i.e. chocolates. All they will do is just apologise to you and either exchange the product or give you are refund.

olly300

bri365 wrote:

Have a chat with trading standards. Their are laws governing this sort of thing. If you take the product back you'll probally get an attempt at an apologie and maybe if your lucky a couple of quid in vouchers. If it is still on the shelves, try to take a picture of it maybe on your mobile or something and send this picture to trading standards along with your complaint.
I work in retail and know for a fact that there is a fine of £1000 per item out of stock on shelves. Good luck.

Only if the date is "Use By".

http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/yourcouncil/pressoffice/pressreleases/2005/05/0505169rk.htm

N20Y1D

olly300 wrote:

Was the date a "use by" or a "best before"? The difference is very important.
.

Purchased on the 7th of Feb

Display until 8th Jan 07

Best before 16th Jan 07