Tesco Jelly past BBE date made daughter sick

laurawantstowin

Hi,
Today I bought a Jelly from Tesco.
It was one of those little pots with fruit inside the jelly. My three year old daughter had one and a few hours later she was sick.
She has eaten all the same foods as her brothers & sisters apart from the jelly. When I realised this, I took a look at the Jellies I still had in the fridge. The best before date was the end of Jan 2014. I am 100% sure that is what made her sick.
I have just briefly googled the law of selling best before & use by foods. It seems that it is not illegal to sell best before foods that are past date. However I have seen that they should of made the buyer aware of the fact, which they did not.
Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks x

unholyangel

The reason BBE dates aren't illegal to sell past the date is because they are not harmful to your health to eat beyond this date, they just might not taste as good.

Usually food poisoning symptoms will first present themselves between 1 and 3 days later - it is possible otherwise, but this is the usual time frame.

However given its a BBE date and not a use by date....its unlikely the jelly is the source of the illness.

Edit: Sorry forgot to add, if you take them back, I'm sure tesco will replace or refund them.

laurawantstowin

Thanks for that info.
I am pretty sure that it is the jelly as she had no symptoms of illness before eating it. My other 4 children have all eaten the same as her & no one else is ill. I just had a quick google on food poisoning symptoms & it says
''The delay between consumption of a contaminated food and appearance of the first symptoms of illness is called the incubation period. This ranges from hours to days, depending on the agent, and on how much was consumed. If symptoms occur within 1–6 hours after eating the food, it suggests that it is caused by a bacterial toxin or a chemical rather than live bacteria.''
So I'm guessing it was a bacterial toxin (Although I'm not sure exactly what that means) x

unholyangel

laurawantstowin wrote: »

Thanks for that info.
I am pretty sure that it is the jelly as she had no symptoms of illness before eating it. My other 4 children have all eaten the same as her & no one else is ill. I just had a quick google on food poisoning symptoms & it says
''The delay between consumption of a contaminated food and appearance of the first symptoms of illness is called the incubation period. This ranges from hours to days, depending on the agent, and on how much was consumed. If symptoms occur within 1–6 hours after eating the food, it suggests that it is caused by a bacterial toxin or a chemical rather than live bacteria.''
So I'm guessing it was a bacterial toxin (Although I'm not sure exactly what that means) x

I really wouldnt rely on wikipedia for medical advice/diagnosis. Try the NHS or somewhere reputable.

laurawantstowin

I know Wiki isn't the most reliable, it usually pops up first on google unfortunately.
Just had a quick look on NHS direct- that says you can vomit as quick as 15 minutes after eating it.
Could just be a bad one & nothing to do with BBE date, going to go to Tesco and see what they say anyway.
Partly to complain but also because I know these are aimed at kids with Toy Story Characters on them. Would hate for other kids to get sick if its a bad batch x

Searcher

Is it not possible that she may have just been sick? How long did it last?


BBE dates are there as a guidance that the food may not be as good as it was, not that it's gone off or will make you ill. From experience I've normally found that Jelly will get a mould on it rather than spoil.
Personally I think you're barking up the wrong tree with this but I'm no microbiologist and could be wrong.
Hope your daughter didn't feel ill for too long

photome

Without tests of her sample and a sample of the jelly it will be impossible to prove the link.

I suspect Tesco will apologise and offer a refund

kerri_gt

A BBE is just that, best before but not harmful if eaten after. Totally different to a use by date. It could just be a coincidence, too much to eat, over excited, a bug, or just a reaction to something in the jelly anyway.

It would be worth flagging to tesco in case it's a bad batch, take the other jellies with you but it's very doubtful it's the actual BBE date that's the factor.

peachyprice

As above really. An item with a 'Best Before' date isn't going to become toxic within matter of a few weeks, otherwise it wouldn't be sold with 'best before' it would be sold with 'use by'. Also, if it were off it would probably have puffed up so you would have known before you even opened it.

If she hasn't had the jelly before it could be a reaction to something artifical in it, or even more likely, she's picked up a tummy bug.

robatwork

Tesco shouldn't have been selling this item so far after the BBE date.

However in your post you don't seem to take any responsibility for looking at the BBE date on the jelly yourself before serving it. I think you take over half the blame for this.

Take them back to Tesco, get a refund, and check everything in future..

I hope your daughter feels better today.

wealdroam

laurawantstowin wrote: »

It seems that it is not illegal to sell best before foods that are past date. However I have seen that they should of made the buyer aware of the fact, which they did not.

Was the 'best before' date clearly visible on the product?
If so, isn't that making the buyer aware?

Sorry to have to say this, but why did you buy a product that was past its best before date?

Ok, you made a mistake there, but why did you then serve it to your daughter?
It's a good idea check this sort of thing at the time of serving too.