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 I also gave the barcode and asked if there was any way they could check to see if any more out of date ones had been sold.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really didn't seem concerned or proactive considering children could have been eating a meat product 16 months out of date.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.

[TinyTear]

Such a big date, are you sure it was Best Before and not manufacturing date?

[TinyTear]

And by the way, for a fussy eater to try new things, get the chilled ready meals like Little Dish, much better than the shelf stable ones

[diddl]

Was it the date of manufacture rather than the BBE date?

[BalloonSlayer]

You didn't really need the "I normally cook everything from scratch so this was a bit of a departure for me" stealth boast did you?

Well yes she did because this is Mumsnet and if she hadn't every reply would have been "well you ought to cook from scratch love like ME then this wouldn't happen, you are endangering your DCs more with your slatternly lack of cooking skills than a 16 month out of date meal."

Believe me, I've been here a while.

OP, I would have given environmental health a nod. HOWEVER if it is one of those long-life meals they have such a long shelf-life anyway, like tinned food, it may well still be OK.

I won't go into details as I can rant for hours but I have been seriously pissed off over the years at various Supermarkets' lackadaisical attitude to selling out of date, dangerous or wrongly labelled goods. The last time my DC had an allergic reaction to wrongly labelled food the woman on the phone's attitude made me so angry that I said if it happened again I wouldn't bother phoning them, I'd just sue them. There is simply no regard for the fact they are breaking the law.

[lazyarse123]

I agree with you op. How could she check stock if she didn't even know what it was. There has to be more than one item out of date for the shop to be fined as Environmental Health take human error into consideration, although they do still get into trouble. I work in a supermarket. I once bought sausage rolls from Morrisons deli counter but when I opened them they were cheese rolls, I took them straight back (because none of us like them) and explained that they were for a child who had a dairy allergy, didn't even get an apology just an exchange. Some people just don't care. Glad you do op.

[CircleofWillis]

I used to work as a mystery shopper so perhaps my customer service expectations are high. I would have expected the assistant to take details of the product so they could check for more strays and to be offered at least a refund and replace for the item. I did think the product was dangerous to health as it contains real beef (I checked the ingredients) and is well over a year out of date but now realise that apparently that isn't necessarily the case if it has been stored properly.
It was probably a typo
Catsize - I thought too initially but the date is 2015 on the outer cardboard sleeve and on the inner plastic pot.

Are you going to be another one of these people who say "it's not about the money but making sure it never happens to others"?
scrumptiousbears - yes I thought that the food was dangerous. Why on earth wouldn't I make sure no-one else would buy and eat it. I think it's really odd that you wouldn't if you believed you'd found something that could make someone ill.

Such a big date, are you sure it was Best Before and not manufacturing date?
diddl and TinyTear - definitely Best Before End. Thanks for the advice TT I'll try Little Dish.

I find it a bit strange to be called hysterical and stupid on this thread. Apart from posting about it on Mumsnet I don't think I've done anything particularly unreasonable. I called the store and insisted they take details of the product and check for more out of date items on the shelves. I eat food past its best before date frequently and would have been unimpressed but fine if it were something like biscuits, cereal or pulses with that long date. I use herbs and drink tea that was around in the last millenium. But a meat dish and one marketed as a healthy option for a young child seems different. Would any of you who think I was being hysterical, knowingly feed a three year old child a beef hotpot that was 16 months past its best before date? If not then I imagine you too would be annoyed that you nearly did it unintentionally.

[BillSykesDog]

It's highly likely it's a printing error rather than anything else.

You can report stores selling out of date food to your local trading standards who can investigate and fine if necessary.

[StarryIllusion]

Well what was she supposed to do? Sell by dates are supposed to be checked every few days anyway so that would already be being flagged. You can't check the dates of food that has already been sold.

[StarryIllusion]

Just seen it was actually a best before date and not a use by so it wasn't actually even out of date. Best before doesn't mean you have to eat it by that date. It means exactly what it says, the product is best before. If it said Use By then she may have been a little out of order but tbh I wouldn't have been particularly fussed about a BBE date and would have just suggested that whoever worked that dept mark them down. Besides those things are so processed they last for months without even being chilled.

[NiceCuppaTeaAndASitDown]

While I would hate for this to happen, a best before date is not the same as a use by date so the product shouldn't have been dangerous.
However, it's an extremely long amount of time and at the very least I would expect a letter of apology and reassurance from the supermarket in question.

[CircleofWillis]

If it said Use By then she may have been a little out of order but tbh I wouldn't have been particularly fussed about a BBE date and would have just suggested that whoever worked that dept mark them down. Besides those things are so processed they last for months without even being chilled.
StarryIllusion - if you wouldn't have been particularly fussed does that mean you would have fed it to a child rather than take it back? Just to confirm - the best before date is April 2015. Not being confrontational, just honestly curious.

[tiggerkid]

If it's best before rather than use by it won't be dangerous just not at the best quality. - OP says the date was April 2015. This is more than a year ago!
OP, I don't think you are unreasonable. It sounds like you just want it to be taken seriously. The supermarket is unreasonable and they are the ones, who should have offered you absolute reassurance that they are taking it seriously, which they obviously haven't!

[MrsFionaCharming]

Unfortunately this is really common OP. I volunteer at a foodbank and we check the dates of everything donated. At our last Supermarket collection day (so food from the shop, not people's cupboards ) we got loads of old food.

[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?

[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.

[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

[OreosAreTasty]

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

[LoreleiGilmoreIsMyBFF]

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

[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 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!

[gamerchick]

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

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.