Are ready meals safe?

[Kristof]

Hi all. We all like to prepare fresh food but sometimes a ready meal will have to do. I love fish pie ........ But I've just discovered that the new coop simply irresistible range and packaged in a way that is not only non tamper proof (there are some sick people about) but are also not sealed. The lids can be popped off and pushed back on without any signs they have been opened.
Here is a short video of one I bought

As you can see the coop fish pie has no tamper evidence at all, in fact it can leak. In the video you can see the food trapped under the edge of the lid. Germs can easily get in to there . Here is another video of how easy the lid comes off

I don't think this is safe, especially not with fish

[AgentProvocateur]

Ready meals have too much salt. The packaging is the least of the problems with ready meals. Also, the chances of someone tampering with a ready meal are so small that it wouldn’t register on most people’s list of things to worry about. Ditto germs. If you don’t think it’s safe, don’t buy it.

[Kristof]

I have stopped buying this one. As a luxury end ready meal you would think that more care would be taken to ensure the product stays sealed from manufacturers to end user. With this the lid can come off ant any stage and simply be pushed back on. Food safety does concern me. I am surprised at your comment re tampering : the food industry spends a fortune ensuring food is tamper proof. Take a look at just about all jar food ...... They have a pop lid. This was introduced after the baby food tampering. Almost every food item is packaged in a way that all but the most elaborate methods of tampering are evident....... Almost every ready meal has either a foil or a film lid. This has dual purpose. To stop bugs and to stop tampering. as recently as Sept 2018 there were reports of needles being deliberately placed in strawberries.
Here are a few others

listverse.com/2010/12/27/10-notorious-cases-of-product-tampering/

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/tendaily.com.au/amp/news/crime/a180918jgl/historys-most-notorious-cases-of-food-tampering-contamination-20180919

The second one lists the strawberries. Food tampering is only so low because the industry takes such steps to limit the risk, so selling a fish pie where the lid can be taken off and reattached without any sign is crazy

[SoupDragon]

They have a pop lid

You can re seal those.

[Kristof]

They don't seal properly, they leak.
And why would you want to re seal a "for one" fish pie?
The very fact that you can "re seal them" is the problem. When you squeeze the pack the top pops off. So when they are being stacked on the shelf the staff can just push it back on. How long has it been piped off?
The whole point of sealing is to keep the contents safe and fresh ...... Especially fish and shellfish.
And who else has "resealed" the lovely fish pie? Some weird people about, supermarkets often discard chilled produce that has become un sealed (shameful waste) and here the coop has taken the decision to change its packaging from a sealed, tamper proof safe one to this pop off lid one ....... And it does come off that easy

[SoupDragon]

eh? The pop lid you (and therefore I) were talking about is on jars. Is the fish pie in jars?

[SoupDragon]

Anyway, my point was that the pop lids on baby jars aren't tamper proof.

[Seafour]

Seriously? It's fish pie, buy some lovely fresh fish, potatoes, milk, butter, parsley and spend some time making several fish pies, eat one, freeze the rest and chill the fuck out.

[Kristof]

@seafour ....... I do buy fresh fish, and shellfish and I do make fish pie. Shame you feel the need to resort to swearing. I hope you never fall foul of food tampering...... One of the latest being FRESH strawberries
My point is that here we have a supermarket chain selling a premium range product that is effectively designed and could become unsafe.
@soup dragon (love the name) the lids with the push button centre are tamper proof , that is the point of the "do not buy if button clicks" it's on all jars of food in the uk. Once opened the seal is broken and the centre button will click or pushed down. The wording varies but all are similar and this was introduced after the tampering scares. Even pataks lime pickle says "if safety button pops up when pushed original seal is broken"

[SoupDragon]

the lids with the push button centre are tamper proof , that is the point of the "do not buy if button clicks" it's on all jars of food in the uk. Once opened the seal is broken and the centre button will click or pushed down

Yes, and it is actually possible to "reseal" them so the button doesn't click. We used to do it with the blown jars before binning them.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

The heat of the oven will kill most germs, and your stomach acid will deal with any that slip through. I really wouldn’t worry.

[Kristof]

@soup dragon ....... Very interesting and cleaver, what about the plastic seal around the lid?

I was just pointing out that a Major UK retailer is ignoring advice and evidence and stacking it shelves with products that are not necessarily safe

And yes, oven heat and stomach acid may kill most bugs ........ But not the toxins produced by some. Heat does not take care of toxins (have a look into rice storage and reheating) shellfish are also notorious for some of the worst kinds of food poisoning.

[Kristof]

www.fda.gov/food/resourcesforyou/consumers/ucm079137.htm

[HoleyCoMoley]

Isnt everything not in a tin at risk of being tampered with.

[Kristof]

I'm at risk of getting run over ......... But I don't walk blindfolded down the motorway. it's about minimising risk
Ready meals with a simple film or foil lid heat sealed to the tray reduce the risk.
Also these kids don't provide a moisture barrier.
Just think about it ......... Someone opening up this seafood pie and prodding it, then lid back on and back on the shelf. Any kindle seal would prevent or expose that

[JanetLovesJason]

Do you work for the Co-op or something?

[Livinglavidal0ca]

This is so weird who do you work for?

[SpecialLittlePrince]

You're devoting a bit too much time to this

[ZackPizzazz]

Who cares? All fresh food is sold "unsealed". Tons of food could be very easily tampered with if people wanted to. In general they don't. It's the kind of ridiculously marginal risk it simply isn't worth spending millions to prevent, any more than it's worth body-searching the supermarket's customers to make sure they're not hiding machetes. (THEY COULD BE, YOU KNOW.)

[SoupDragon]

*pwhat about the plastic seal around the lid?

What about it? I'm talking only about the pop up button.

Anyway, I'm wondering what your motives are for apparently joining a parenting site to post this.

[catinboots9]

This is really fucking weird

[Nothisispatrick]

What about all uncovered fresh food then?

[freerefill]

@catinboots9 very!!

[Cel982]

If you're worried about a specific product, why not just contact the Co-op itself and relay your concerns?

[Kristof]

I did contact the coop (who I don't work for) and they are "surprised" there is no tamper evident seal.

Fresh food : meat fish etc is behind a counter or in sealed packs (and why do you think that is) fruit and veg can be inspected before purchasing.

Risk is so small as to not spend millions: they do spend millions, tamper evident lids on jars, plastic film on ready meals, tear seals on bottled drinks, shrink over seals on salary dressing......... Almost every product. Look on the top of jar lids "if button can be depressed .......etc
Almost every product sold packed has some form of tamper evident seal ...... People may not even realise that it is there for that reason and I say that because one well known brand (that was a victim of tamper blackmail) explains it's pop up jar buttons as being for another purpose.
Next time your in a supermarket, have a look and see how many ready meals, on un supervised fridge shelves, has no tamper protection.
Even tesco " take away style" container meals, has a small tab that has to be broken before the lid can be lifted.

Every supermarket advocates that if seals are broken ..... Do not buy.

Google deliberate food tampering. The majority (and there are a lot) took place in the 80's and they are what led to the current design changes to make it as hard as possible

[Kristof]

@soup dragon (one of my boats is called soup dragon)

I'm wondering what your motive

I don't have a motive