Supermarket juice for kids - 4 months out of date!

kirkyb1980

Hi all,

It's my first post here on MSE so go easy on me please

2 weeks ago, my wife and I purchased a carton of fruit juice labelled 'for kids' from a well known supermarket, with the intention of diluting it 50:50 with water for our 17 month old son.

We opened the carton on the morning of Fathers day (16th June 2013) for him to drink prior to leaving for a meal to celebrate the occassion. No longer than 30 seconds after our food had been delivered our son projectile vomitted onto the table where we were eating. As a consequence we had to leave and the rest of the day was ruined.

Our family break to Wales had to be cancelled and meant that I didn't get to see my Father on the 19th of June.

Upon investigation, we discovered that the carton of juice stated 'best before Feb 2013' and was therefore 4 months out of date. I called the manager of the supermarket and complained about the situation and was told that he would remove the items immediatley. He also recommended that our son should see a doctor as he could no longer face solids and the distress was making him heave and vomit. It is only now that his appetite has returned!

Upon returning to the store last night (18:00, 25th June), I decided to check up on the managers promise of removing the items to find that the childrens juice was still being sold with a BBE of Feb 2013 - now being almost 5 months out of date!!!

I left my number with the assistant manager to pass onto the manager and I received a call from him this morning (26th June) and have been offered an unknown good will gesture upon returning to the store.

We have photo evidence of the carton we originally purchased (plus the carton is still in our possession), a photo of how ill my son was, and a photo of the out of date cartons still on sale in Tesco.

So in summary:
1) My son was made violently ill through the stores incompetence.
2) My Fathers day and Fathers day meal was ruined as a consequence.
3) We had to cancel our vacation.

What would be the best course of action regarding this situation?

ThumbRemote

1. Take a photo of the out of date items in the store. This will be evidence later.
2. Make a note of your financial losses, eg cost of the holiday.
3. Consult a solicitor. This is a classic personal injury claim, and they will offer the expert advice required. You should be able to claim for both the financial losses and the illness itself.
4. Ignore the posters who will turn up on here claiming it can't have been the juice that made him ill.

Coopdivi

It can't have been the juice that made him ill.

kirkyb1980

Thanks for the reply ThumbRemote

Other than the vomiting and the resulting lack of interest in food, my son had no other symptoms and so the doctor stated that it wasn't viral.

peachyprice

1. BBE is an indication of food quality, not safety.
2. Taste, texture and colour MAY deteriorate beyond the BBE date, but it's highly unlikely a product will be harmful.
3. If the juice had been unsafe the carton would have expanded with the gases produced and you would have noticed before you even opened it, it's impossible not to.
4.It is not illegal to sell food beyond the BBE date.
5. Unless you have medical proof that the juice, which was still likely to be perfectly safe to consume, caused the illness there is no personal injury claim, despite what others may tell you, just a nasty coincidence, or perhaps a child allergic to added ingredients.

Just for when Thumbremote tell you that's not true:
http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2011/sep/datelabels#.UcrslPnVAXs

paddyrg

Remember 'Best Before' is not 'Use By', so it is not illegal to sell - however supermarkets should only sell food fit to eat, of course.

Was the juice carton bloated up? That is by far the most frequent sign of fermentation, which occurs if there is any external organisms getting in there. Also, can you be absolutely certain the cup and water etc used didn't have any problems? Touched a dirty dishcloth for instance? Or not well rinsed after a wash with Fairy?

30 seconds is actually incredibly short for there to be any kind of biological reaction - did you taste the juice? Did it have a soapy/off/whatever taste?

I have to say, scary as it sounds, my 18 month old nephew will sometimes spew almost without warning. Be aware it *could well* be a coincidence of timing. Kids get ill for the strangest reasons, their little systems haven't built up their own resilience yet so it's all a part of the process, believe it or not, to develop antibodies etc.

fluffnutter

What makes fruit juice 'for kids'? Why not just buy normal fruit juice? It's more likely to be in date, that's for sure.

Azari

Hmmm

1) New poster
2) First post made on the day of joining is anti-Tesco
3) Post doesn't really add up*
4) Poster only posting in one thread.

A suspicious person would probably think back to several other anti-Tesco posts made by new posters on the day they joined.


* For anything to have such an immediate effect it would have to be severely toxic. The chances of that happening without any very obvious bloating of the carton are about nil. It's also extremely unlikely that it could happen without changing the contents - i.e. creating a bad smell and severe discolouration.

browneyedbazzi

peachyprice wrote: »

1. BBE is an indication of food quality, not safety.
2. Taste, texture and colour MAY deteriorate beyond the BBE date, but it's highly unlikely a product will be harmful.
3. If the juice had been unsafe the carton would have expanded with the gases produced and you would have noticed before you even opened it, it's impossible not to.
4.It is not illegal to sell food beyond the BBE date.
5. Unless you have medical proof that the juice, which was still likely to be perfectly safe to consume, caused the illness there is no personal injury claim, despite what others may tell you, just a nasty coincidence, or perhaps a child allergic to added ingredients.

Just for when Thumbremote tell you that's not true:
http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2011/sep/datelabels#.UcrslPnVAXs

Spot on. it's quite unlikely that the juice has caused your child's illness. The only way to know if the product has become dangerous (as some BB products do if left long enough) is to have it tested - You could contact your local environmental health team and make them aware that you think the product is harmful to health and ask them to have it tested, but it's a bit of a lottery if they will or not. Without some testing to show the juice has become unsafe and caused your child's illness I think it's pretty unlikely that you'll win a claim.

Money-Saving-King

ThumbRemote wrote: »

4. Ignore the posters who will turn up on here claiming it can't have been the juice that made him ill.

And ignore ThumbRemotes post as well!

moyesforever

I was making dinner last week and went to the store cupboard to get a tin of peas and came across a tin of sweetcorn and decided to have that instead. Whilst we were eating dinner my wife asked where/when I got the sweetcorn. Store cupboard I says, I don't remember ever buying tinned sweetcorn she replies. Digs tin out of bin and lid says BB Feb 2003! Think it may have come from my mothers house when she went into a home 8 years ago. Tasted fine and no ill effects whatsoever too.