Lidl/Aldi- a false economy?

[Anonykunt]

Was away from home for a fortnight, I left two unopened Aldi yogurts with a long use by date and opened one for breakfast. It had a spot of green mould on it! My fridge was cold and it still had a week to go. The other one was fine. I open a cottage cheese with also a week to go and it's funky tasting.

Feeling the pinch from my time away, I do a shop at Lidl. That was on Saturday. Milk has gone cheesy. The mince I cooked yesterday was going brown despite being well within date. The cream turned two days after opening.

I bought dairy in the past from these shops and don't recall problems.

I'll be doing my shop at Sainsbury today. Anyone else noticed this?

No. I find that the fruit and veg from aldi doesn't last long but meat/dairy has always been fine. We've had many more problems with other supermarkets with things going off.
Some chicken had gone off but we noticed the pack had actually been opened (don't know if in store or on the way back).

I think the mince goes brown because the blood drains out of it to the bottom, so it's not necessarily gone off . The other stuff though shouldn't be going off , are you sure your fridge is cold enough?
I shop at Aldi and haven't had any problems.

Is your fridge working OK?
MIL used to tell us Asda's milk didn't last. Turned out the fridge was faulty.

I find Aldi fruit and veg are good for a few days, Tesco last much longer. I’ve given up buying deli stuff from Aldi, it’s off by the time you get home (exaggerating for effect, but only a bit). Their cheese is excellent, and the biscuits.

I find Sainsbury's worse for dates to be honest. Had no issues with Aldi.

The hard cheeses and Lidl greek yogurt are fine. My fridge is 2°c right now.

Nope - haven’t had any problems with Aldi produce. It all seems to last as long as stuff from anywhere else.
Check your fridge temperature - our milk kept going off at one point and it turned out the temperature in the fridge was 13 degrees!

I shop at Aldi all the time. I have never had an issue in any shape or form as you describe.
I think your fridge might have a problem? Best start from basics & get it checked out.

I've never had an issue with dairy or meat from either Aldi or Lidl.

I've never had that problem with Aldi.

Sounds like your fridge. Everything I get from aldi lasts a disturbingly long time. Lidl food really fresh round here (Manchester).

I don't save money shopping at lidl as too many yummy treats. I try and do a waitrose shop combining their essentials range with higher value unusual ingredients I can't get at lidl. I spend say £80 on a waitrose shop and £130 at lidl on alternate weeks.

Rate aldi for household goods so shop there monthly.

Sounds to me like your fridge is not working properly.

Never had any problems with Lidl produce.

Bought grapes from Sainsburys last week which went mouldy overnight though.

Have never had that problem with anything from either Aldi or Lidl and that's been my main shop for a couple of years now. Tend to find Morrisons fruit & veg can be a bit questionable sometimes (hence the switch!).

More than one store and more than one product type would suggest it's your fridge, maybe?

It must depend on individual branches. I won't buy fresh fruit and veg from Aldi or Lidl because it goes mouldy/manky quickly .
So, not good value for those items.

They're good for tinned products, loo paper etc.

Never had any issues with “fridge foods” from Aldi. The yogurt with the mould suggests that there may have been a pin prick hole in the packaging.

Mince being brown is because of oxygenation. If it’s bright red, it’s had too many nitrates added to keep it red-this is not a good thing!

It definitely depends on the branches, meat is always off quickly if I get it from a certain Lidl branch

I think it depends on the manager to a large extent (and the temperaturein their unloading area). Stuff is delivered refrigerated and good management ensures it stays outside of the controlled environment as short a time as possible before being back in a fridge.
I have 3 local Tescos. Two are fine but the 3rd (and biggest) is terrible for stuff going off.

I've been doing my main shop at Lidl for >10 years, since the last economic crisis.

Never had any issues with dairy, meat or fish I'd routinely put in the freezer anyway until I want them. Lots of people report on Mumsnet that fruit or veg goes off - never had this either, it's worse when I occasionally go to Tesco.

Shop from a list and eat the most perishable stuff first.

Excellent yoghurt products from Aldi, I've never had problems and they are so creamy. Tesco is worse I think!!

Never had a problem with Aldi, Tesco meat on the other hand…

I find the aldi & lidl fruit, in particular, strawberries/rasperries/Blueberries go mouldy very quickly. I need to inspect the packets on the shelf as I have brought ones home before that are already mouldy. Alot of the time their fruit on their shelves is mouldy/soggy whilst still waiting to be sold. I find their milk goes off very quickly aswell.

I shop at aldi but tend to do multiple smaller shops. When I started shopping there years ago the perishables did go off really quickly so got into this habit. It seems to have got a lot better in terms of freshness, and I have never had any problems with yoghurts (problems with milk for a week or two though but seems to have got better now). I think it does depend on the branch but I would persevere a bit.

I’ve just come home from a fortnights holiday too. We left two soya yoghurts, from Aldi, in the fridge. Both were absolutely fine, as was the unopened milk that had gone past its best before date.

I buy berries and grapes from Aldi every week and they last ages. I take them out of their packaging, though, which I find helps. I don’t buy raspberries from Tesco anymore because they turn within 48hrs, if not sooner.

I've never had problems with anything from Aldi or Lidl, but I think it depends on the store.
I find that if I buy food on a hot day and it's quite some time before it gets put in the fridge, it tends to go off much quicker.