TESCO --- we all know they support parking scammers, they also sell outdated food ???

beamerguy

TESCO --- we all know they support parking scammers, they use their own staff to scam customers,  they also sell outdated food ??

https://www.cieh.org/food-safety-integrity/2020/april/tesco-loses-legal-challenge-over-sale-of-out-of-date-food/

Half_way

Three dates in play:

 Sell by

best before

Use by

As for Tescos and PPC's the best way forward would be for any double dip to end with a GDPR claim against whoever it is in Tesco that authorised the PPC - GDPR allows for personal liability as well so the individual could be personally held liable and not tesco corporate, such an outcome might help focus minds a little

Umkomaas

I don't know if anyone else has noticed but many pre-packed Tesco fruit and veg packs no longer carry a date (whether that be a sell by/use by/best before or whatever), rather they carry a number 0-365 which rises as the year progresses which one can only assume relates to a day of the year. But, despite asking a Tesco food section manager, he couldn't (wouldn't) confirm whether it was a day number, nor indeed whether it related to sell by/use by/best before - or whatever. Instead, he told Mrs U to look closely at the product through the polythene bag, feel it, hold it up to the light, then decide whether to purchase or not. 

This is an obvious shift of the incumbency for determining the freshness (or not) of the product away from Tesco to their customers - a nasty move in my opinion. Needless to say we no longer purchase any fruit or veg, nor any undated product from Tesco. 

D_P_Dance

Before lockdown The Memsahib, along with other Indian and Pakistani Memsahibs, woulds congregate at out local Asda in the evening  tho snap up nearing sell by date items.  This way we got to feast on Chateaubriand, flllet steak, turbot, scallops, Normandy salted lamb, Barnsley Chops,  asparagus tips,  et al at for very little money.  Thus enabling us to afford  the very best Libfraumilch.

Now all of this has gone and  I am having too eat cod, haddock and rib eye.

Umkomaas

Same at our ASDA where they grab everything off the reduced price shelf as it's being loaded (yes everything like a plague of locusts) and pile the whole lot in their trolleys, then wander round the store randomly dumping those items they don't want or don't consider cheap enough. Scandalous!

D_P_Dance

I will  have to take your word for it, I do not visit these establishments.  

MistyZ

I usually rely on Tescos.  Since the lockdown we've been getting vegetable boxes delivered by a local whole food store.  Wonderful produce - by comparison Tescos have been flogging us mutant vegetable lookalikes that taste of nothing and are often ready for the compost bin within a day.  

I'm gonna up my game and joint the D_P_Dance club - can't wait to tell people 'I do not visit these establishments'.

happybagger

I've been in food retail for over 30 years and dates still cause the public headaches.

Use by: Must not be sold after that date.
Best Before (End of): Can be sold after the date, but it must still be fit for consumption. It is wise to make it obvious to the consumer that it is beyond that date, for instance by a 'Reduced' label.
Display until: Generally for the retailer's guidance; a use by or best before should still be on it as well. With the exception of eggs -  these must NOT be sold after the Display Until date (which on eggs is always 7 days before the Use By date)
Sell By is not used.

The use of these 1-366 numbers are no more than the equivalent of batch number, and a date can not be ascertained from it. Different growers will use different start dates. 

Personal opinion is that Tesco was mistaken in bringing this case as the legislation is adequate; there is flexibility built in with 'best before' dates

As for PPCs, hopefully they will soon be declared by Parliament to be past their Use By date.

Umkomaas

So how would you ascertain which bag of the same carrots would be freshest/best to purchase/likely to last longest, those showing (say) 113 or in the same display (buried lower!) those showing 118?

happybagger

Lower the number, older the product. Until you get back to 1 again of course.
In your example of carrots, they would only ever have had 'Best Before' so could be sold after date anyway, subject to being 'fit'
Unusually for a Tesco employee their comments made in your post above, is quite accurate. 
Some products before date can look in worse condition than others after date. Bananas are a good example; where if an employee decides it would be good to put them in chilled storage like other fruit, numpty.
It is not a bad idea to let the customer make the decision as to whether the product is worth buying, depending on how long will be before they use it.

Umkomaas

In your example of carrots, they would only ever have had 'Best Before' so could be sold after date anyway, subject to being 'fit'

But if other bags had later 'Best Before' dates then most people would opt for those with a later date, leaving Tesco with earlier bags edging closer to the precipice and they carrying the burden of potentially unsaleable commodity. Now with the change, I'm sure many will be confused by the numbering system, with Tesco quietly slipping the risk of having ageing produce on their hands from them to their customers - as I read it.