Sold out of date food

unholyangel

Alderbank said:

unholyangel said:

Next time, just check the dates as you unwrap them. 

I always check dates on delivered food because invariably (at least since covid and especially fruit and veg*), there's always something short-dated. One time we ended up getting refunded about 40% of the order cost as so many things were going out of date within just 2-3 days. 

*precovid I remember being able to buy fruit and veg that was dated about a weeks freshness. Now, you're lucky to get 3 days. 

However, I will also state that I've generally found supermarket fruit and veg to be quite poor (in how long the fruit/veg stays good for) compared to that from grocers/ farms or fruit/veg markets. Same goes for meat. I rarely buy fruit veg or meat from a supermarket for that reason. If quality is so important, I'd perhaps try a local independent supplier. 

I agree 100% about fresh food with no food miles.
I am lucky in that where we live we buy beautiful produce straight from the farms and market gardens where they are grown. However that would not help the OP. She says that she threw all the fresh stuff away because she had lost the wrappers and didn't know their sell-by dates.
The stuff I buy straight from the growers never has sell-by dates . 

PS - the fresh new-laid eggs I buy locally don't have date stamps either. Is that legal? I know that the fresh unpasteurised milk we bought when I lived in Yorkshire was illegal.

Well, another perspective is that the OP doesn't check dates anyway, so what difference will it make to get them local instead? 

We've got lots of choices here. Butchers that are normally locally sourced. Fruit/veg shops (and fruit n veg market in glasgow). And lots of farms sell eggs/fruit/veg/meat either on their premises or by delivery (and have done for decades - people just tend not to know they do it). Butchers are particularly good - normally cheaper than supermarkets as well as better quality! One does 4 massive (and I mean massive) full chicken legs (in various spices/marinades/seasonings) for £3.50 that are also part of a 3 for £10 offer. And most butchers do "family pack" type deals which again work out cheaper than buying from the supermarket. 

As for the eggs, I don't believe they need to be stamped. But they do need to give a best before date. Most places around here write it on the box/container. I was surprised at the number that work on a policy of honesty - just leave a moneybox with the eggs while they work on the farm or whatever. 

TELLIT01

I agree that the reaction is totally out of proportion with the potential problem.  That said, we have a friend who takes any date on packaging as meaning it's not safe to consume after that date, despite being told repeatedly by us and by her family that she is wrong.  Everything from milk to bakery products to fresh veg goes in her waste bin as soon as it passes that date.

Alderbank

It is her choice not to use them of course but could you persuade her to pass them on to a charity instead of binning them?

Mnoee

Alderbank said:

unholyangel said:

Next time, just check the dates as you unwrap them. 

I always check dates on delivered food because invariably (at least since covid and especially fruit and veg*), there's always something short-dated. One time we ended up getting refunded about 40% of the order cost as so many things were going out of date within just 2-3 days. 

*precovid I remember being able to buy fruit and veg that was dated about a weeks freshness. Now, you're lucky to get 3 days. 

However, I will also state that I've generally found supermarket fruit and veg to be quite poor (in how long the fruit/veg stays good for) compared to that from grocers/ farms or fruit/veg markets. Same goes for meat. I rarely buy fruit veg or meat from a supermarket for that reason. If quality is so important, I'd perhaps try a local independent supplier. 

PS - the fresh new-laid eggs I buy locally don't have date stamps either. Is that legal? I know that the fresh unpasteurised milk we bought when I lived in Yorkshire was illegal.

The issue with unstamped eggs is the lion mark more than a date. The lion means it's from chickens vaccinated against salmonella. You're probably fine eating them fully cooked, I was told to never use eggs without the lion mark for things like carbonara where they're not heated much. https://www.egginfo.co.uk/british-lion-eggs

Ergates

neilmcl said:

pinkshoes said:

lilymaylalesallen said:

The pa laying does not have a use by on it anywhere just display so in theory I could of still ate the mouldy pear as it didn’t have a use by, but even with just a display by it should of been thrown in the bin as my shopping was packed in the morning of the 7th and delivered on the 7th so the item was missed by the shop and not deposed off like it should have been and not sent to me 

OMG Really?!?!?! You would have eaten that pear?!?! 

Your human senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound) should always over-rule any packaging. It's basic common sense.

I accept that by listening to the pear you would not have been able to establish it was mouldy, but it LOOKED mouldy, it would have FELT soft, it would have SMELT off, and if you got as far as taste then 

As for throwing away £30 of food because it MIGHT have gone off?!?! Without even using your senses?!? That's just ridiculous!

This is a money saving website, so my advice to you is to accept the refund of the pears, and next time apply some common sense and stop wasting perfectly good food when there are people in this world who are starving!!!

To be fair, judging by the picture, I don't think the pear itself was mouldy rather than it had some surface mould on it, perhaps from the way it was stored. I'd bet once washed and peeled there'd be actually nothing wrong with it. 

Are you looking at a different picture - there is clearly mould growing on the pear.  Just look at the way it's clustered around the stalk - a classic mould ingress/egress point.

As a general rule - you can get away with scraping the mould of a solid relatively dry food, like cheese, but definatley not something that is moist or soft (like fruit) as the mycelia will have penetrated into the body.  You have to cut away much more deeply.

IvanOpinion

Mmmmmmmm ...... mycelia

Mojisola

Alderbank said:

I know that the fresh unpasteurised milk we bought when I lived in Yorkshire was illegal.

Why do you think that?

"The sale of raw drinking milk is legal in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It can only be sold directly to the consumer by:

• registered milk production farms (Opens in a new window) at the farm gate or farmhouse catering operation
• farmers at registered farmers’ markets
• distributors using a vehicle as a shop such as a milk round
• direct online sales
• vending machines at the farm"

www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/raw-drinking-milk

Alderbank

Thanks for that, Mojisola.

I believed it because the farmer told me he was not supposed to do it. Looks like he was pulling my leg.

There was no Google back in those days

Edited to add:
Now that we do have Google, I see that sales of raw milk and cream are completely banned in Scotland, where I now live!

Mojisola

Alderbank said:

I believed it because the farmer told me he was not supposed to do it. Looks like he was pulling my leg.

There was no Google back in those days

It may not have been legal back then.

jonesey1985

I can't believe the responses to the OP here.  People should be ashamed of themselves.

OP, your reaction was reasonable and balanced given the severity of the situation, although I suspect you haven't gone far enough. You really need to chuck everything in the bin.  The bags, the cupboards, the fridge, the house and yourself.  You can never be too careful.

Then take Iceland to court to reimburse you for your losses.

Stay safe.