This use by date is a twat

[iamadramallama]

I bought these yesterday, thinking the middle date was an 8, as in August, I ate contents (falafels) and now my partner points out it's a 6, as in June as he puts them in the bin.

Fuck sake - I can't tell now I've looked at it again...:tell me it's an 8 Mumsnet

They tasted fine!!

Badly printed 8. If you cover over the corner of the 8 with your finger it looks the same.

But would be worth checking with the store just in case.

I would ask them to check and also to take it up with the supplier (Cauldron) because it is unclear.

It's an 8 that's missing a bit of ink. Although if sealed those ingredients would still have been okay if it was a 6

Even though I think it's a misprinted 8, tweet them your picture. Supermarkets respond quickly on Twitter...

I would have said 6, but if you zoom in and look at the 0 next to it, that is also printed a little bit iffy, though not to the same extent - there's a faint space through the middle.

Most supermarkets when presented with that sort of thing on Twitter just tell you to return to store when you can with receipt and packaging for them to look into it.

Usually it wont scan if it's out of date I tried to buy some biscuits gluten free lemon ones they were gorgeous they were out of date and computer said no! (And I've not found them since ) so if they scan they should be in date

Not true @slipperywhensparticus that would only happen if withdrawn from sale. EAN code doesn’t change from batch to batch

I think it's a 6. For comparison there's an 8 in the time stamp underneath

The 8 below doesn’t match the supposed 8. So I say 6.

We bought Skyr yoghurt in tesco a couple of days ago and the 8 looks very much like a 6, we checked all of them on the shelf and they were all the same, they don't taste nearly 2 months out of date!! I think it's the printer.

Trust me you’d have gooey falafel if it were a 6.

It’s a 6. That’s how many times you’ll be spraying muck a minute if you have scoffed them.

Tweet is good shout but I'm not on Twitter

I've emailed cauldron customer services so see what they say. There's a code on the inner package so they should be able to tell me when they were made

Cauldron Foods response was shite - said sorry and send us your postal address - think this may put me off falafels for life

If they were two months out of date, wouldn’t the packaging be blown up like something festering inside. When ever I’ve had something in the fridge out of date the plastic cover starts to puff out like a balloon.

It looks like a 6, but a) I can’t imagine stock control at Sainsbury’s is that lax and b) I just found some falafels in my fridge that are going mouldy and they’re only a few days out of date.

Looks like a 6 to me, but I've lost all faith in Sainsbury's after my 2yo brought me this apple he was spitting out. It was in date, in my online shop a couple of days ago 🤢

I've concluded it was a badly printed 8. I ate them on Monday and am still alive and no ill effects.

Thanks all for your views much appreciated!!

I thought it was a 6 at first, but MrsKittyFane's post convinced me to look again, and I think a 6 should look like an upside-down version of the 9 in the picture. So I agree it's an 8 with some dots missing.

Corroborating evidence is that actually the other side also has some dots missing, as does the previous zero, on both side. Clearly a local problem with the ink.

Glad you are still alive OP
@moominmammy What the flaming hell is with that apple !