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Original poster

M&S rotten fruit now no BBF date

108 replies

OnTheBoardwalk · 13/09/2022 21:51

I, like every else no doubt, have always taken best before dates for what they are. You see the date, have a sniff then crack on

since M&S have taken the dates off I’ve noticed all my fruit shop has been rotten and end of life. I had a delivery Saturday of 4 apples that usually last forever however they were rotten round the stem today. I've no idea when they were packaged up

i'm going to not buy M&S fruit/veg due to this latest initiative and go back to my own smell tests on BBF dates from other suppliers. Much less waste

is it just me?

OP posts:
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5
EntertainingandFactual · 13/09/2022 21:54

Is there some sort of code that tells the shop when it was put in the shelf or when it should be taken off? I’m sureAldi had something like that.

Mistymountain · 13/09/2022 21:55

No it's not just you! I've noticed it with tomatoes especially, always overipe and at the end of their life.

DSGR · 13/09/2022 21:57

I haven’t noticed this with M&S, I love this fruit and veg. But if I did I’d complain

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General food
EntertainingandFactual · 13/09/2022 21:59

The closed coding section here might be helpful…

www.wikihow.com/Read-Expiration-Dates

Frankley · 13/09/2022 22:04

I found this with strawberries. I had no idea how long they had been in the shop. I had to throw a lot away. Not bought them again

Original poster
OnTheBoardwalk · 14/09/2022 22:23

I've done my usual shop with Ocado but have chosen fruit not sold by M&S. hopefully I won’t get nearly rotten fruit delivered tomorrow

i do miss Waitrose fruit but got too many random substitutions so went back to Ocado

OP posts:
LibertyLily · 14/09/2022 22:50

I've noticed this with M&S strawberries (bought Friday evening, whole lot rotten by Saturday morning!) as well as grapes and nectarines from Aldi. Am scrutinising more carefully before purchase now 😉

We live nowhere near a Waitrose (Carmarthenshire), more's the pity, but tbh even when we did their fruit and veg was often on the turn in store....miss them massively for everything else though!

Paranoidandroidmarvin · 14/09/2022 22:51

Yes. Someone on Twitter posted this exact thing. And was ripped to shreds about it. But I have noticed it as well. Nothing lasts long anymore no matter what I do. I have given up buying certain things.

Paranoidandroidmarvin · 14/09/2022 22:51

Meant to say I shop at Tesco.

Hawkins001 · 14/09/2022 22:52

With fruit and vegetables I prefer the use by dates ect, otherwise it's a pickle if they go fusty.

ThisMustBeMyDream · 14/09/2022 22:59

Asda have done the same with some of their fruit. Pissed me right off as I spend a fortune on fruit each week. I've asked for a refund on loads of it as it is in poor condition and not lasting as it should when delivered from home shopping.

Lunabun · 14/09/2022 23:02

Ohhh I've been having this with Tesco who've also got rid of their best before dates. I thought it was a great idea at first. But I've had two fruit and veg items from my delivery that turned up mouldy, and one that became mouldy two days after purchase.

Thewestwoods · 14/09/2022 23:12

Yes, really p…g me off.

One of their staff told me the policy had been changed so they no longer have to reduce fruit / veg near the end of it’s life.

I wouldn’t mind but with everything sealed you can’t even smell / squeeze to see if it is ok. I have stopped buying M&S Asparagus, tomatoes, Strawberries, Raspberries and Blueberries as a result of them removing date codes.

if it gets any worse it won’t be worth shopping there as I can’t be bothered to go to 2 Supermarkets when I can go elsewhere and buy everything in one place.

Original poster
OnTheBoardwalk · 14/09/2022 23:37

oh didn’t realise other supermarkets were getting rid of the BBF date as well

agree even before the removal of the dates I stopped buying blueberries because they were turning when delivered

I’ve been a massive fan of home deliveries til now but I’m now thinking I need to start going back into the shop and looking at the fruit and veg

OP posts:
megletthesecond · 14/09/2022 23:48

I don't like it either. I never treated use by dates on fruit and veg as gospel but at least they were staring me in the face when I opened the fridge so I knew to get on and eat it fairly promptly.

PickAChew · 14/09/2022 23:51

The mysterious codes on M&S produce are literally the date before they get yellow stickered.

Waitrose is more cryptic, though.

M&S rotten fruit now no BBF date
PickAChew · 14/09/2022 23:52

And which supermarkets haven't yet jumped in the no display until bandwagon?

FatOaf · 14/09/2022 23:58

Sainsbury's was selling - or trying to sell - lots of mouldy grapes today.

ACJane · 15/09/2022 00:04

YES to this. And given how expensive things are now, it's extra annoying to find half of it is rotten or moldy.

Yalz · 15/09/2022 00:46

So, are we thinking there’s still a secret code on the M&S label so they can work out a date on it, such as on this pack of pears? I can’t see anything behind the black rectangle, even from the wrong side of the cellophane.

The nectarines and blueberries had dates on them and were reduced, but perhaps that’s not going to happen so much in future. I had to take the blueberry photo from the wrong side and flip the picture as the reduced barcode sticker covers the other code.

Nothing is going mouldy yet, but I think my fridge is set to be too cold.

M&S rotten fruit now no BBF date
M&S rotten fruit now no BBF date
M&S rotten fruit now no BBF date
Discovereads · 15/09/2022 00:55

I am hating this new initiative as well. Veg and fruit delivery has been not fresh since the initiative. I’m losing more food to the bin than ever before because everything rots so much faster. Which means I’m losing money and going hungry at times. So frustrating.

Some supermarkets- Sainsburys, Morrisons and Co-op are even dropping use by dates for milk and yogurt! Saying “use the sniff test”. What about those of us with no sense of smell due to Covid or other reasons? I’m not in the best of health and cant really weather repeat food poisoning…nor should I have to.

Goldpaw · 15/09/2022 01:11

This is exactly the reason they're doing it. Because over the last year or more, fruit and veg has had much shorter periods of time till the best before date. I used to by stuff with another week on it or more, now it's 1-3 days. People don't want short date fruit and veg so the solution is to remove the dates so shoppers won't have any idea if what they've bought will be mouldy the following day or last another few.

rnsaslkih · 15/09/2022 01:36

I bought a punnet of blueberries today -
no date on them so I thought I’d get them eaten this evening/tomorrow morning just in case. Opened and realised mouldy. I don’t know how shops manage stock without best before dates. It seems stupid to me. Trying to avoid people throwing stuff out on the BB Date but causing us to have to throw out stuff that’s mouldy as soon as it’s bought.

LuckyStone · 15/09/2022 01:40

I havent noticed this yet. But it sounds super annoying. You should all take your mouldy fruit to back to the shop and complain and demand your money back so that this stupid trend stops again.

abcd4321 · 15/09/2022 01:46

On the pears I am slightly worried that they are 22 August!

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