Tinned food - rotten - How / where to complain

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Food manufacturing standards are very high but not perfect (horse meat wasn’t that long ago) and massive companies have an interest to protect their bottom line which doesn’t always aline with what’s in the best interest of the customer. 

These shops must be pretty happy  when customers take food items with issues back to them, as above it should be environmental health for an unbiased appraisal of the situation.

DullGreyGuy

Certainly when I had my brief time at working at a supermarket back office any food that was contaminated was to be brought in store, they then use cold chain to get the food stuffs back to us and there was a specialist team in the building that looked into it and liaised with the manufacturer. Its certainly wasnt the case back then that they just refund you and chuck it away. 

The canning process is typically seal the food stuffs in the can and then cook the contents whilst it's sealed in the can. The cooking process kills any biological material in the can and as it's sealed nothing can get in. Hence in theory the contents can last indefinitely; when at school and doing "expeditions" the best before date on the tins was several years before I was born.

Very rarely the can doesn't seal properly in which case microbes etc can get in and naturally it then will rot. Hence they tell you to do is check the can isn't badly damaged, rusted or bloated, each of which can break the seal or show somethings going wrong with the contents.

Ergates

Brie said:

In situations like this I contact the manufacturer.  Include pictures of the contents, tin, bar code, BBD anything that will conclusively identify what "batch" this is from. 

That is the supermarket's responsibility.  They're the ones who have the contract with the supplier/manufacturer and the ones who have the contacts.

Ergates

fatbelly said:

That shouldn't be possible and indicates a possible problem with the canning process that may well affect the whole batch.

I would run this past environmental health at your local council

Environmental health aren't going to be interested in a single faulty can.  Your local council aren't going to have any relevant authority over tinned goods imported from spain/italy by a large national retailer.


Just return it to the supermarket.  They will refund you and then take it forwards with the supplier.  They have a vested interest in not being supplied with rotten food, and have the clout with the manufacturer to actually do something about it.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ergates said:

 Your local council aren't going to have any relevant authority over tinned goods imported from spain/italy by a large national retailer.

There laws governing food safety to ensure that all food is safe to eat which includes retailers, both large and small, and it is environmental health from the council who inspect premises and deal with food safety, if the local council were to say it's outside their remit they would presumably direct the person towards the FSA where consumers can report food issues, including food with visible signs of mould or decay:

https://www.food.gov.uk/contact/consumers/report-problem/report-a-food-safety-or-hygiene-issue

It's unclear what bearing the country of origin would have on the matter? 

DullGreyGuy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:
It's unclear what bearing the country of origin would have on the matter? 

That the UK agencies interest would stop at the last UK based company, so if the manufacturer is in the UK they'd go to that level, if they are overseas then it will stop at the importer. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

DullGreyGuy said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:
It's unclear what bearing the country of origin would have on the matter? 

That the UK agencies interest would stop at the last UK based company, so if the manufacturer is in the UK they'd go to that level, if they are overseas then it will stop at the importer. 

I still don't see what that has to do with anything  

Unless someone is suggesting that any food that comes from outside the UK is free from UK legislation and so we could be eating just about anything with no comeback? 

Ergates

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Ergates said:

 Your local council aren't going to have any relevant authority over tinned goods imported from spain/italy by a large national retailer.

There laws governing food safety to ensure that all food is safe to eat which includes retailers, both large and small, and it is environmental health from the council who inspect premises and deal with food safety, if the local council were to say it's outside their remit they would presumably direct the person towards the FSA where consumers can report food issues, including food with visible signs of mould or decay:

https://www.food.gov.uk/contact/consumers/report-problem/report-a-food-safety-or-hygiene-issue

It's unclear what bearing the country of origin would have on the matter? 

"and it is environmental health from the council who inspect premises and deal with food safety"  this is why country of origin matters.   Nottingham council can't inspect the premises of a canning factory in Italy.

The FSA aren't going to do anything either - bearing in mind we're talking about a single can.  There is already a process in place to deal with such circumstances - return the item to the shop for a refund/replacement.  No need to complicate matters.  This isn't some grand conspiracy, just a faulty can.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ergates said:

Nottingham council can't inspect the premises of a canning factory in Italy.

Very difficult to say anything further without repeating myself really. 

laws governing food safety to ensure that all food is safe to eat which includes retailers, both large and small, 

Ergates said:

bearing in mind we're talking about a single can. 

How do you know this exactly? (Whilst I'm sure it is).

[Deleted User]

just a quick update ... contacted the supermarket they apologised and  just offered a refund ( 39p) if it is taken back to the store . It will cost her more for bus fare to take it back .