Tesco's selling food that is about to run out 15 November 2022 at 5:22PM in Food shopping & groceries 24 replies 1.3K views

The_blur

Hi all,

This sounds petty but it's getting very frustrating as of recent.
I only realized this after i bought some wraps and then noticed they were moldy 2 days later, then saw the use by date was well gone, basically the day i bought them.

Now i have started looking more at the dates before buying food, my local Tesco's is selling most of their food which is around 2 days until past Use by date (not best before).


This very frustrating as its basically impossible to shop for a week as your food gone off within 3-4 days easily. Is this some kind of ploy by Tesco's to ditch old stock or is this even Legal too? 

Secondly the food waste is insane, as you have moldy food sometimes 4 days after buying it so have to ditch.

be interested to hear thoughts and what to do if anything. 

k3lvc

Of course it's legal and it's certainly not just Tesco. It's part of the ongoing challenges of managing both food inflation and current supply chain issues within the industry

All you can do is choose an alternative retailer (maybe less convenient or a higher price), choose different products or use a freezer if you're intent on shopping for a week

MSE_James

It can also be worthwhile to reach further back on the shelf to find the products at the back with the later dates on the packet. 

RobM99

k3lvc said:

Of course it's legal...

That's not what it says here   https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2951028/is-it-illegal-to-sell-out-of-date-food/p4

RobM99

MSE_James said:

It can also be worthwhile to reach further back on the shelf to find the products at the back with the later dates on the packet. 

Yes. I worked at a supermarket and we were always told to put fresher stuff at the back.

Katiehound

it's called rotation of stock so nothing new there

OP said:
"my local Tesco's is selling most of their food which is around 2 days until past Use by date" (I'm struggling to quote)

So it's not actually out of date when purchased, so of course it is legal.

Always look at the date on the packaging. I chose items from the back of the shelf if possible. 

Cheapie shops which sell OOD products clearly mark the shelf so that you know the item is OOD, and probably greatly reduced in price. And I am talking about tinned/ packet/ jars of food or sauces not perishable items.

maisie_cat

RobM99 said:

k3lvc said:

Of course it's legal...

That's not what it says here   https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2951028/is-it-illegal-to-sell-out-of-date-food/p4

Out of date food is not the same as near dated or today's dated food

prowla

I don't buy short-dated food for my weekly shop, as it's typically gone off by the end of the week; I will check the backs of the shelves for the longer dates.

The other trick they've brought in is to not date items; I think they dressed it up as reducing waste, but it's really just an excuse to leave out some sorry-looking veg for longer.

pjcox2005

The_blur said:

Hi all,

This sounds petty but it's getting very frustrating as of recent.
I only realized this after i bought some wraps and then noticed they were moldy 2 days later, then saw the use by date was well gone, basically the day i bought them.

Now i have started looking more at the dates before buying food, my local Tesco's is selling most of their food which is around 2 days until past Use by date (not best before).


This very frustrating as its basically impossible to shop for a week as your food gone off within 3-4 days easily. Is this some kind of ploy by Tesco's to ditch old stock or is this even Legal too? 

Secondly the food waste is insane, as you have moldy food sometimes 4 days after buying it so have to ditch.

be interested to hear thoughts and what to do if anything. 

I don't get the point of "secondly the food waste is insane"; it's not going to get better if Tesco pull the food from being sold whilst it is still in date.

I fail regularly at this but i actually think people could do better, I automatically go to the back to get long lasting/fresher food but if you know you're eating something that or the next day then you really should pick from the front to use it up.

Norman_Castle

prowla said:

The other trick they've brought in is to not date items; I think they dressed it up as reducing waste, but it's really just an excuse to leave out some sorry-looking veg for longer.

It is to reduce food waste. I've got friends who bin vegetables because the date on the bag tells them to, they don't look at the vegetables. They certainly wouldn't buy vegetables if the bag told them they were too old.

If vegetables look old and "sorry" then don't buy them. I take potatoes out of the bag and put them in the salad drawer in the fridge. No idea what the date on the bag was, if they look alright I eat them.

Mnoee

I've noticed they've got worse with this on home deliveries - in particular not marking the items as short dated on the receipt. Today I got some burger baps, usually 3+ days with todays date, last week it was a pack of sausages, again dated that day... Not a massive deal for me as they're both freezable but it makes my life so much easier if they actually write it on the receipt as they should. One day I'll not spot an unmarked short date, hopefully just on bread and nothing dangerous.