Asda selling goods well past their best before

Geordie_bear

Hi guys this has now happened on a couple of occasions for me & both times it with the same line. Namely a 6 pack of Miller Genuine Draft beer. First time it happened was an Asda 60 miles away from me & the best before was October 2012 I noticed because it had the old black promo packaging on which I hadn't seen for ages. So I asked whether or not they sell beer which is 6 months past their sell by date they look at me quizically & once they seen the best before they couldn't believe their eyes. Today I went to an Asda near me & seen it again this time with April 14th 2012 a whole shelf of them no less. I asked for a discount & they declined saying they couldn't sell it to me. Now you may think that it's obviously a line they can't sell but when you consider a 12 pack is on sale for £9 & they're trying to sell the 6 pack for £6.60 people see that it's a no brainer in buying it. You'd think that a store the size of Asda would've realised & discounted the price earlier on instead of have several packs that they now need to throw out!:mad:

So I've devised a cunning plan from now on I'll jot down the best before dates of all of these packs in the Asda's I frequent & go in on the day of the best before date that way if they're still on the shelf I should be able to get really decent discounts!

geordie_joe

Geordie_bear wrote: »

You'd think that a store the size of Asda would've realised & discounted the price earlier on instead of have several packs that they now need to throw out!:mad:

They don't have to throw it out, you can sell items past the best before date if you want.

The best before date is just the minimum time the manufacturer thinks it will be at it's best. It could be at it's best for a lot longer than that, and will still be consumable even if it is past it's best.

DCFC79

Geordie_bear wrote: »

Hi guys this has now happened on a couple of occasions for me & both times it with the same line. Namely a 6 pack of Miller Genuine Draft beer. First time it happened was an Asda 60 miles away from me & the best before was October 2012 I noticed because it had the old black promo packaging on which I hadn't seen for ages. So I asked whether or not they sell beer which is 6 months past their sell by date they look at me quizically & once they seen the best before they couldn't believe their eyes. Today I went to an Asda near me & seen it again this time with April 14th 2012 a whole shelf of them no less. I asked for a discount & they declined saying they couldn't sell it to me. Now you may think that it's obviously a line they can't sell but when you consider a 12 pack is on sale for £9 & they're trying to sell the 6 pack for £6.60 people see that it's a no brainer in buying it. You'd think that a store the size of Asda would've realised & discounted the price earlier on instead of have several packs that they now need to throw out!:mad:

So I've devised a cunning plan from now on I'll jot down the best before dates of all of these packs in the Asda's I frequent & go in on the day of the best before date that way if they're still on the shelf I should be able to get really decent discounts!

Its 2012 now so the first miller genuine draft you noticed was still in date.

Someone isnt doing they're job then if its happened before. How are you going to make a note of all the dates without being asked by the staff what your upto ? No idea why the angry smiley but asda can do what they want with the goods.

Tibbs,The_Freebie_Hunter

I, too, came across this in the last few weeks at Asda. I picked up Philadelphia cheese, something which I always check the dates for.

Luckily for me that I did - the date code was at least 6 weeks out-of-date (early March)

I also found lack of date rotation elsewhere. More recent dates were plunked on the top and front, not at the back like they should be.

Perhaps we all need to contact trading standards when this happens. That might jolt them into action.

thatguy1

DCFC79 wrote: »

Its 2012 now so the first miller genuine draft you noticed was still in date.

Someone isnt doing they're job then if its happened before. How are you going to make a note of all the dates without being asked by the staff what your upto ? No idea why the angry smiley but asda can do what they want with the goods.

I think the OP meant 2011

scoobyju1

Odd. I had the same thing happen to me with Miller but in Tescos.

Both were the same store though approx a year apart. The first time my Sister bought them & noticed they were out of date. She had to pay to get the bus back into town, they swapped them for her but didn't give her any money for her journey to return to the store.
The second time, it was myself who bought them. I drank them (oops) & noticed they were out of date. Now I wouldn't normally have complained as I'd drank them & they were fine. What annoyed me more were the practices of the store. So I fired off a complaint.

I got a £15 giftcard for my troubles which I used to buy a crate of Miller for the next time my Sister visited (from a different Tesco though!)

Lugh_Chronain

According to the NHS, use by dates are for foods that go off quickly, such as smoked fish, meat and ready-prepared salads. Such items shouldn't be eaten after the date even if they look and smell fine.

Best before dates signify when the item is no longer in optimum quality. Except in the case of eggs, they do not signify when food has gone off but can usually still be consumed with no ill-effects afterwards.

Date marks such as "display until" or "sell by'"often appear near or next to the "best before" or "use by" date. These are instructions for shop staff , not for shoppers.

The important dates for you to look for are the "use by" and "best before" dates according to the NHS.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/food-labelling-terms.aspx

Though Martin Lewis has previously pointed out: "Best before labels usually have nothing to do with whether food is safe to eat, it's just a manufacturer's view of optimum quality. Plus it's an easy way to keep us buying more food.

"Unlike use by dates there's no rule saying you can't eat food after the best before date. In fact, you're still allowed to sell it for consumption and many people can buy perfectly healthy food at heavy discounts this way.

"We should only have use by dates on food when appropriate which ARE for health reasons and 'sell by' dates on food for manufacturers. For everything else we should use our eyes and nose."

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/family/2011/04/food-shake-up-could-see-best-before-labels-changed