B&M selling out of date stock

amandacat

I bought some curry powder from B&M and noticed when I got home that it was out of date in August last year. So this led to me checking the dates of other stuff I’d bought across two of their stores recently.

3 cans of Rubicon drink were out of date last September plus 4 bottles of beer were best before December last year.

Now I don’t know if this is just poor stock control/checking or if this is why they are cheap but surely they should advise you if something they are selling is past its best before date?

I’ll be checking all dates before purchase now in future.

iammumtoone

its not out of date, its a best before date and is perfectly fine to eat/drink.

It is legal to sell foodstuffs that are passed their best before date.

However I don't know if it is illegal to sell it without declaring that fact. I will be interested to hear the views on this from the more knowledgeable posters.

Mojisola

amandacat wrote: »

Now I don’t know if this is just poor stock control/checking or if this is why they are cheap but surely they should advise you if something they are selling is past its best before date?

That's the main reason.

KatrinaWaves

Perfectly legal. In fact the govt has floated binning off best before dates in order to stop people throwing away perfectly fine food, as our food waste is so high.

It doesn’t need to be highlighted inthe store, the dates are there plain to see.

Bogof_Babe

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

Perfectly legal. In fact the govt has floated binning off best before dates in order to stop people throwing away perfectly fine food, as our food waste is so high.

It doesn’t need to be highlighted inthe store, the dates are there plain to see.

Not always "plain to see" unless you have perfect vision! Especially on bottles where there's a tiny, pale stamp on the neck, if you can even see it with the liquid behind it.

Mojisola

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

Perfectly legal. In fact the govt has floated binning off best before dates in order to stop people throwing away perfectly fine food, as our food waste is so high.

The amount of food thrown away in the country is shocking, especially when most of it is perfectly fine to eat.

The sooner best before dates are dropped, the better.

KatrinaWaves

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Not always "plain to see" unless you have perfect vision! Especially on bottles where there's a tiny, pale stamp on the neck, if you can even see it with the liquid behind it.

Well that would be true of use by dates also, or ingredients for allergens etc. I’m sure those with such vision have ways to deal with this issue.

iammumtoone

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

It doesn’t need to be highlighted inthe store, the dates are there plain to see.

Thats interesting. I eat out of best before date food I have no issue with it, it is safe to eat and cheap, but somethings it doesn't taste as good as the "in date" version. Buying in cheap shops like B&M I wouldn't have an issue with not being informed its past its best before. However if I paid full price in a supermarket I would be a bit miffed if the date had passed.

KatrinaWaves

iammumtoone wrote: »

Thats interesting. I eat out of best before date food I have no issue with it, it is safe to eat and cheap, but somethings it doesn't taste as good as the "in date" version. Buying in cheap shops like B&M I wouldn't have an issue with not being informed its past its best before. However if I paid full price in a supermarket I would be a bit miffed if the date had passed.

Make sure to check all dates on ambient stock, that’s all I can say really. Tbh most shops don’t sell past Best Before dates, agree with it or not, when I worked in Marks and Sparks we would have pulled it after reducing it for the month prior. But there was no requirement for us to highlight the date in any way, because it’s an issue of quality not safety.

Pennywise

More likely that it's just not noticed by staff rather than being sold deliberately. Shops usually check fresh and chilled stuff for dates, but very unlikely to check the shelves for non perishables like tins of food, bottled/canned drinks etc. When I notice it, I tell shop staff. If I have bought something and found out later it was out of date, never had a problem when taking it back and getting a refund.

Jumblebumble

Mojisola wrote: »

The amount of food thrown away in the country is shocking, especially when most of it is perfectly fine to eat.

The sooner best before dates are dropped, the better.

Especially on items like Worcester sauce that will actually last for ever and putting a best before is nonsense