To think just offering a refund is not enough?

[CircleofWillis]

I went to a nationwide supermarket yesterday and bought a trolley full of shopping including some kiddy food ready meals that were on offer. My DD is a bit of a fussy eater so I thought I'd have a go at offering her new foods without the effort and pain of having to cook and probably throw away a home cooked meal. (I normally cook everything from scratch so this is a bit of a departure for me.) When I got home I discovered one of the ready meals was dated best before end April 2015. The product contains beef but does not need chilling. I immediately called up the store to warn them. I got through to customer services who apologised and offered a refund. I had to suggest they should check the rest of stock and they said they would and would have hung up if I hadn't asked 'don't you want the details about the product?' I insisted on giving the name of the item and then the assistant did go and check to make sure there was nothing left on the shelves. I also gave the barcode and asked if there was any way they could check to see if any more out of date ones had been sold. Not sure if that was possible on the system but the assistant really didn't seem concerned or proactive considering children could have been eating a meat product 16 months out of date. Am I being too fussy? I'm not someone who throws food away the moment of midnight on their bbe but 16 MONTHS!!! I think just offering a flat refund is a bit paltry too. To me it suggests that their whole storage and stock rotation and staff training needs monitoring.

[BlurryFace]

OP, I've worked in supermarkets before and I would imagine that the person who refunded you will mention it to a supervisor/manager/ambient assistant who will make sure the other trays get checked. The person refunding you probably can't make any promises as to what will happen because they're very low down the pecking order and managers can get a bit snappy if they are summoned to every single refund of an item that's gone bad.

Anyone who has worked in a supermarket will tell you this sort of thing happens all the time and that supermarkets are filthy. Worked at a shop that had been bought out and needed gutting, the things that you find when moving shelving units and fridges that have been in place for years...

[lljkk]

I would have heated it up & eaten it.

[MrsKHB]

Wow I wish these meals were around when my 3 were little, it would have saved many a crooked meal ending up in the bin. -or being hoovered up by me-

[PersianCatLady]

pretending not to be able to imagine the ambient ready meal category
It has been a long time since my son ate toddler food.

He is 16 now, 5 foot 10 and weighs 9 stone and thinks nothing of eating 2 chicken chargrills, a family size portion of rice, 2 tortilla wraps and a side plate of salad so I am sorry about my ignorance regarding these things.

Looking at the food in question I don't even think that things like that were around when he was a toddler. There were those little tins and cans but I have never seen this type of toddler meal before.

[BarbaraofSeville]

Otherwise she'd get 50 posters ignoring her actual question and telling her that they would never buy ready meals for their dc

And here they are pretending not to be able to imagine the ambient ready meal category.

I'm sure the people at Ella's kitchen are estatic that their products are being described on here as 'additive-laiden non-chilled crap'

Ingredients:

Organic Vegetables 50% (Onions, Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Yellow Peppers, Peas + Potatoes), Organic Vegetable Stock 30% (Water and Organic Ingredients: Rice Flour, Onions, Carrots, Turmeric, Pepper, Sunflower Oil + Parsley), Organic Chicken 10%, Organic Rice 8%, Organic Cornflour 2%, Organic Garlic

[ladymarymoo]

OP if you are concerned then call the manufacturer quoting details on the packaging, they will be v angry that their shelf space has out of dates products.

Doubt the Daily Fail would care but maybe on a slow news day?

[WannaBe]

While I can see that OP might state that she cooks from scratch, I don't see how anyone can go from cooking from scratch to buying additive-laiden non-chilled crap off the shelves rather than out of the fridge. There is middle ground between the two, surely?

I cook from scratch and there is no way on this earth I would buy that kind of shite food. if I were going down the ready meal route as a quick fix I would at least buy one from the fridge with real ingredients

[DameXanaduBramble]

I'm assuming it's one of the heart shaped toddler meals you find with the baby food jars.

[PersianCatLady]

Forget to add, what more than a refund do you want exactly?

Perhaps if you ate it you could hope (on a very slight off chance) get terrible food poisoning and then you could claim for compensation??
But that would be just silly really.

[PersianCatLady]

The product contains beef but does not need chilling
What on Earth is this product, can you give us a link at all?

[LoreleiGilmoreIsMyBFF]

croc absolutely agree with the reasons for the stealth boast, and another here who would do the same!

[BarbaraofSeville]

Foodbanks always specify in date food Lilac so it sounds like they don't accept any that is out of date, so they would probably throw away anything that was donated but out of date.

[possum18]

I'm sure when I worked at Waitrose their policy used to be refund and replace, to reinstate the tarnished food and refund the money too, I thought that was good as it would contribute towards the annoying time spent complaining/traveling back to the shop.
They definitely should have taken down, with interest, the item details to remove the rest.

[Crocodillian]

Jessie I think op added the "stealth boast" (if it was one) about usually cooking from scratch because she probably knows what mn can be like. I'd have done the same. Otherwise she'd get 50 posters ignoring her actual question and telling her that they would never buy ready meals for their dc, followed by 10 "it never did me any harm" posts and then a full blown debate about changes to nutritional advice and a bun fight about bfing just to completely derail the thread.
Op totally see your point. Ive had this happen in corner shops really annoying when it's something like juice thats fermented and gone fizzy or buying bread Sunday night and realising its mouldy when I come to do the packed lunch and then everywhere's shut. Grrr. It's human error though, theres always a chance that someone's missed something in stock rotation.

[LilacInn]

I would certainly hope a food bank isn't throwing out food just because the "best by" date is past! What a waste!

I just used a boxed escalloped potatoes mix that "expired" in 2011 - it was perfectly fine. People need to stop reacting to these marketing ploys so uncritically.

[LilacInn]

Hysteria.

The food is not dangerous if the packaging has not been breached. shelf-stable tinned and packaged goods can be edible literally for years beyond the "sell by" "best by" "expiry" etc. dates.

Here is a reputable article on the topic; note that scientists tested a 40-year-old tin of corn and found it perfectly edible. A packaged item fro the 21st century is not "dangerous" if it's 14 or 15 months beyond "best buy." Calm down.

www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/26/167819082/dont-fear-that-expired-food

[DameXanaduBramble]

Those meals are pasteurised to within an inch of their lives. Its unfortunate but these things happen. Take the refund and forget about it.

[gamerchick]

You deserve a refund nothing more OP. It's not that big a deal.

[LoreleiGilmoreIsMyBFF]

I do remember when I worked in a supermarket, the manager found a load of the little Cow&Gate jars of purée that were about 6 months out of date. He put them in a big basket near the till for about 25p each. A colleague and I (both childless at the time) had a good snigger at him because we assumed they wouldn't sell, being baby food, but they did! About thirty of them!

[Butteredparsnips]

As others have said it is a best before date. On toddler / baby food with a long shelf life.

It will probably taste exactly the same in a decade or two.

[LoreleiGilmoreIsMyBFF]

I have stuff in my cupboards dating from 2012 not a hoarder

[OreosAreTasty]

It's a best before date. Not a use by. Perfectly legal...

[LikeIGiveAFrock]

You haven't been back to the shop yet . They could have a massive bunch of flowers ,luxury hamper and a customer of the year crown waiting for you
I'd just give you a refund too

[kali110]

The Shop wouldn't be in trouble for selling it as it's past it's best before, not it's use by.
Shops can legally do this ( except for eggs).
Best before refers to the quality.
I wouldn't expect anything other than a refund and an apology, having working in refund thAt's all i would hAve given too.

[StarryIllusion]

I'd have sniffed and tasted it and if it seemed ok and the package wasn't swollen or anything then yes, most likely. As a general rule I dont buy them but occasionally, if I know I'll need something quick and easy. They have so many preservatives in them now and so over processed that it is more beef flavoured than actual beef.

Tigger I just don't see what they can actually do about it? Practically speaking. They can check the rest yes but beyond that?