the whistleblower undercover in supermarkets

helping_hubby

I got really annoyed with the statement Tesco made at the end - they seemed to imply it was a one off.

I worked at the Guildford store and it's very true about the pressure of not being able to waste things. However I once wasted £40 worth of ham because it fell on the floor, but I was only able to do this because there were no managers to tell me to stash it out the back so we could put it on sale again later.

On our deli counter all sorts of things went on that happened in the show tonight. Log books being filled in before the event. The cage full of food being on the shop floor for hours. Re-labelling grab and go cheese with new dates. Dates being removed from cheese/ham and then put out anyway (this also happened with loose products on produce).

I have to admit the boss was good at making staff wash their hands, but many staff did not wash their hands after handling meat (raw sausages and bacon), or helping on the fish counter. Surely someone working with cooked food shouldn't be handling raw fish anyway?!

Another 'naughty' thing our store did was pre slice all the ham the day before.

We had an environmental health check and were asked questions and I listened while my boss blatantly lied.

I guess this sort of thing happens in all sorts of places though. Such a shame

jet77

RDA wrote: »

I'm sure we've all seen the Tesco and Sainsbury employee meticulously checking through shelves of fresh produce and re-pricing those which are coming up to their sell-by date.

On occasions, I have seen dozens of packets of re-priced meat in the reduced price section of my local Tesco.

Is this the behaviour of an organisation that cuts the end of a piece of overdue beef ?

I think not.

They've got an awful lot to answer for, but this one just doesn't smell right. Oops.

None of this behaviour surprised me tonight at all and I have never worked in either store:eek: :j

I used to work at a well know nHoliday camp - first of all as a waitress and then prepping starters/deserts in the kitchen and have seen all the rules broken (admittedly not maggots and rats:T ) the rest of it (....not the bucket bit either) but the rest seems to be normal practice in most food establishments. From waiters/waitresses pinching chips of the plates to a cup being licked and wiped with a dirty tea towel before being put back on the table when setting up the tables. When I worked as a waitress in a reputable pub kitchen there was no soap for staff for nearly a week - neither in the kitchen or in the staff toilets - I went in the customer toilets to wash my hands but none of the other staff did

Icemaiden

I'd just like to thank Cooltrikerchick for starting the " a month without the supermarket challenge":T If I had'nt done this my family would still be eating the supermarket !!!!!!.

newster

I feel quite yukky :-(

lotties_mum

A bit off topic but this programme isn't the only worry tesco will have this week, as the tesco lorry drivers are meant to be going on strike in livingston, Scotland from thursday for a couple of days which will affect over 100 tesco stores in scotland over the bank holiday.

bagand96

The Tesco statement was interesting, insisting it was a localised issue and didn't reflect on wider flaws in their policies etc etc...

I would be fairly confident you could walk into any Tesco store and see these sorts of things happening. Its true that Tesco has very strict guidlines and policies concerning fresh foods, and I think staff training is on the whole very good.

However, the corporate culture in Tesco totally contradicts the policies that are in place. Unfortunately Tesco has become money money money. Department managers are absolutely scrutinised over their waste budgets, and as such this is drilled into general assistants. The daily meatings name and shame the departments and managers that are worst performing, and the tracker boards are there for everyone to see. So is it any wonder that people in the company will cut corners to reduce waste?

Staffing is the other major issue. Again, its all about money. Ask any Tesco store about staffing and its the same story - not enough. Cut backs after cutbacks with the staff budgets mean people leave and simply aren't replaced. Stores are being run on a skeleton of staff, but the head office attitude is you must be coping, your still making the money. If the right amount of staff are employed then all the policies can be followed, but if the staff are totally overun with jobs to do? Well...

Its not the fault of the people in the stores, and I don't think any of the Tesco store staff in the film are to be blamed., and neither are the rogue employees. They are typical Tesco staff, who are generally a good bunch but have to work in increasingly overstretched conditions.

Tesco head office make these policies, which are good policies designed to stop things like this happening. Yet that same head office is constantly driving for more profit, cutting wages budgets, putting pressure on management over wastage etc... They can't have it both ways.

Not indicative of a wider problem in Tesco's policies?? If they don't think so then they are either seriously deluded or just plain liers.

Dobie

bagand96 That is so well put & is exactly the way that so many large companies work. They make policies that sound really good but then the targets & budgets that are given to staff make it impossible for them to comply with 'company policy'. It means that when poor practice is discovered senior management can shift the blame onto local management practice.
It stinks.

jcr16

hubby and i wewre almost sick. seeing those ready meals being made. oh thinking about it now is turning my tummy. it looked gross.

i wonder if it just the meat over the counter which has dates changed or meat that is prepacked aswell.

it has really made me think now. and i certainly won't be buying any meat over tesco/sainsbury counter's.

i was appauled by the supermarkets statements. they were almost making out as if it was only on place that did it . and by re-training staff it would help. well i sorry but the staff knew what ehy should be doing. but they were choosing not it. one manager said it to make more money. how digusting is that.

sorry rant over.

110frankie

"It makes good TV for the BBC, but remember that they're journalists at the end of the day and we all know know how truthful they are.:D[/QUOTE]

"I'm no fan of supermarkets, but have an equal healthy disrepect for the media, who choose to spin the unbiased truth to produce a "good story" or to inject a degree of sensationalism."

---

So now you've all seen the programme where are the apologies to hard working journalists?
People like Martin Lewis, shock horror, he's a journalist.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

well i am glad i didnt watch it.... by what you guys have been saying :eek: hubby wanted to watch the worst driver thing on itv with the o.a.p.s

tescos will say anything to save face and to protect their profits.. like bernard mathews said they didnt import meat for hungry... and then they addmitted they did...( but there was no connection between the out break of bird flu here, and hungry ..lol...) ( sorry back on topic now )

there was a commnet on one of the posts about that it is not the workers fault , they are only doing what they are told..... well.....i feel that they should.....as this is the only way these big supermarkets ( who think they are dictators of our food and quality ) are going to be brought down to size ...wiht more people reporting them, and of coarse more people not going through their doors and spending their hard earned money on highly processed. chemical ridden, and gone off food .....(imo)

i started a few threads.... one was ..have you lost faith in the food industry......and i had one comment saying i was scare mungering ......i honestly think people should realise... supermarkets and food companies are only going to tell you what you want to hear.... so you will buy their products or spend your money in their shops....

i allways think negative now..about the food industry....and this way it makes me think more about my food choices......thats why i dont shop in supermarkets anymore ..as you have no choice....( meaning you buy everything under one roof..) with independant shops you can pick and choose where you go for what......etc...

time for a cuppa now....i think i have waffled on too much about what i think of supermarkets...lol....