the whistleblower undercover in supermarkets

trigger2

good point, it certainly started me wondering about all the places we get food from ! I've just come back from Asda as I had to go to their chemist & whilst there i got some ice cream for the kids (they both have tonsilitis). Dunno whether it's coincidence but their freezers were very full, maybe i'm just suspicious & they'd just been restocked, but it makes you think. I never looked at the deli counter though, i was good & just went in for the ice cream !

kippers

Leicester City council opporate a 'smile safe' system with takeaway places. For example if you get a full smile its really good & clean and if you don't get a smile it's really bad (more involved than this but it gives you an idea).

We always look up a place before we order a takeaway (though we don't have many these days).

Anyway, its a shame they don't operate something like this for food shops too.

lynzpower

kippers wrote: »

Leicester City council opporate a 'smile safe' system with takeaway places. For example if you get a full smile its really good & clean and if you don't get a smile it's really bad (more involved than this but it gives you an idea).

We always look up a place before we order a takeaway (though we don't have many these days).

Anyway, its a shame they don't operate something like this for food shops too.

If they dont get a smile and are "really bad" should they not be closed down by environmental health.

I remember EH coming to tescos when I was there and bearting the manager ( quite rightly IMO) as one of the staff was wearing a ring.

It is basic food hygiene ( in the cert) not to be wearing any jerwellery that itsnt covered over with a blue plaster.

If I go into even a chippy and see someone wearing a ring I wont buy there out of principle.

My dad who is a michelin starred chef by trade, tells me "check the toilets first" if the toilets are grubby or worse, then defiantely dont eat there.

kittykat500

I thought the programme wouldn't shock me - but I was wrong! I hardly ever eat convenience foods anyway but was alarmed at the goings on on the fresh meat/fish counters. Apart from the appalling hygiene at the chicken farm with the maggots etc. the programme didn't really address any issues with fresh prepackaged meat. Do you reckon as it has the best before date stamped on it where it is packaged that it would be OK?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

kittykat500 wrote: »

the programme didn't really address any issues with fresh prepackaged meat. Do you reckon as it has the best before date stamped on it where it is packaged that it would be OK?

i worked in a meat packing plant with the job agency.....

and beliee me you do not want to know what happens BEOFORE it gets packed :eek:

mumoftwo

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

i worked in a meat packing plant with the job agency.....

and beliee me you do not want to know what happens BEOFORE it gets packed :eek:

We do want to know !! Tell us please!

GaryS

I live about 20 minutes drive from the Sainsburys store featured.
Have not shopped there but have used the surrounding shops.
After last nights show I bet the store is fully stocked with top notch produce !

Might be worth a trip to find out, I could keep adjusting my "hidden camera" !

plumb1_2

SnowyOwl wrote: »

I work in a supermarket, normally on the tills. However one morning when it wasn't busy I was sent to work in the bakery. Unfortunately I had a stinking streaming cold - runny nose, sore throat, coughing and a lot of sneezing. I told my own manager I thought it a bad idea to go to bakery but she said "it doesn't matter". When I got there the assistant (not the manager) tasked me with putting jam into the fresh donuts, and then sugaring them. I again said that I had a terrible cold and was sneezing etc, but she insisted I got on with the job. I couldn't control my sneezing though took care to move away from the donuts, sugar and jam and continually washed my hands. However I must have processed at least 200 donuts and put them in their boxes to be sold to the public. Eventually the dept manager sought me out and told me to go to grocery (handling boxes of cornflakes, ie still food but wrapped) as the baker had heard/seen me sneezing and told the manager what was going on. I really did try to take responsiblity for my illness and avoid fresh food but I was coerced into handling it when I was clearly unwell. BTW I would have gone home but the policy is that the first three days of any illness are unpaid, so stuff that I wasn't going to lose pay....

A practice that makes me want to puke is that when some staff members are loading the fridges they will stand on the fridge edge to reach higher shelves. I know everything in the fridges is wrapped but I'm sorry in my opinion that is besides the point and standing on the fridge edges is just plain dirty! The employer doesn't have enough of the proper things to stand on, and often we have to stand on crates, which again have food loaded into them.

Things on the reduced shelf sometimes have their "sell by" dates covered over. Usually it's boxed chocolate or tins rather than fresh things but it's a deliberate attempt to mislead the customer. The reason for such goings on is that the manager is trying to cut down on his department's losses. Staff are under pressure to cut down on items being reduced or thrown away.

The employer can't seem to recognise that "zero loss" will mean corners being cut and big compromises being made by managers.

Can you tell I've had a crap day at work, lol!?!

There's worse, but am too scared to tell ya!

Which Morrisons store do you work at?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

mumoftwo wrote: »

We do want to know !! Tell us please!

the first and main meat packing plant i worked in.....

was packing new zealand lamb and labelling it as welsh higher priced..

meat out of date.. still being packed to go to the supermarket....( so it would be passed it sell by date by at least 2 weeks at the time the date is up on the label)
green slim being scraped off the pork chop joint ( dont know what its called but its was long joints before they chopped them into chops....
sweep up meat from the floor being put into the basic mince

and then there was the so called free range organic chicken place....

and thats another sotry... i got sacked after 3 days for asking to many questions

trigger2

it's enough to turn me veggie, i don't eat an awful lot of meat but OH does & I try to make sure the kids get a mix of good red meat, lean chicken/pork, & fish (cod is current favourite). I grew up watching Tom & Barbara in The Good Life & thought it was funny, not so funny now though