Alcohol in pudding not clearly displayed

[Purpledefector]

I need a bit of a reality check - prefacing to say I'm 2.5 years sober - and not sure if this is clouding my judgement a bit.

I bought a dine in meal in Sainsbury's and the pudding was ' chocolate hazelnut pots' ' sponge biscuit layered with creamy chocolate hazelnut mascarpone and topped with hazelnuts and chocolate shavings'.

When I started to eat it I immediately noticed the very obvious taste of alcohol. Went and checked the packaging and listed within the ingredients was 'alcohol' but this wasn't mentioned or hinted at anywhere else on the product - in the picture or the describing words.

I was really surprised by this lack of transparency. Sainsbury's responded to my complaint really quickly - offered me a £10 gift card and said it would be fed back to the packaging department. I said that I felt that didn't reflect the seriousness of the issue and asked for it to be raised with a manager. It has been and their response is the same.

It's not sitting right with me, it feels like a huge error - and I want to take it further.

What's the general consensus?

The type font is small and not located where it’s the first place someone looks at a package. As alcohol is a toxin it needs big type and located in an eye catching place on the package. It needs to be in bold in the ingredients list (I have not seen this list)

It doesn't need to be in bold - in fact, as it's not one of the 14 allergens, I don't think they are allowed to put it in bold, as it would make other allergens more difficult to pick out.

It's not unusual for a chocolate pudding to have some alcohol in it, and it's up to the purchaser to check the ingredient list if there's something they need to avoid.

I have a friend who is allergic to potato. Should every food item containing potato have it labelled in bold? What about my friend who is allergic to tomato, or the one who is allergic to apple? The problem is that there will be someone who is avoiding almost every ingredient there is - they can't all be written in bold, as that makes it pointless.

Doesn't it depend on the quantity of alcohol? I know chip shops often sell shandy, the pre mixed one without a licence and children can buy and drink it.

Also 18 isn't the age to drink in the UK.

IF we were to label everything with alcohol in it we would be labelling ripe fruit like mangoes.

Doesn't it depend on the quantity of alcohol? I know chip shops often sell shandy, the pre mixed one without a licence and children can buy and drink it

I'm amazed they still exist - I thought they were relegated to the 90s along with candy sticks that make it look like you are smoking 🤣

As a mother of a child with a nut allergy I have just got used to looking at ingredients and warnings on the back of the packets of anything I buy so maybe it's just something you will have to do before purchasing in future of you want to avoid anything with alcohol in it.

Nope you can still get it. A muslim colleague bought some and brought it in where I was working a few years ago.

Sainsbury's not respecting those who don't drink for religious reasons or others not consuming alcohol such as an alcoholic who is not drinking.

Item should be relabelled or withdrawn from sale.

I check everything for gluten. Even unexpected stuff like spice jars will sometimes have gluten in. And they don’t say gluten in big letters on the front. And that’s for something which is a common allergen. Worst thing is when the ingredients are clear but you miss the tiny bit not in bold ”may contain traces of”

The ability to get gluten into just about anything is outstanding. Who on earth thinks, hey, I have a perfectly normally plain vanilla ice cream here, I know, let's stick some barley into it.

I can understand why you’re upset, it must have been a real stomach sinking moment to discover there’s alcohol in it when you’ve been so strong staying sober. Alcohol should be displayed on packaging regardless of if cooking it removes the actual alcohol content. The flavour alone must be really triggering

It will contain no more alcohol than much of the fruit you'll buy. For example once bananas go ripe, they contain a small amount of alcohol.

I think everyone has bought something at one time or another that had something unexpected in it - for example I hate banana but I’ve been in a rush, thought I was picking up one thing that turned out to have banana in it, yuck.

But I’m not allergic and it’s not related to any kind of issue that I need to control, so it’s different. I can totally see why someone might not expect this product to have alcohol in it, but it did list that it contained alcohol twice - on the front near to the sell-by date (which most people look at when they purchase) and in the ingredients list.

I think Sainsbury’s have been reasonable here - they considered two references to the inclusion of the ingredient to be enough but they’ve had a customer complaint so they are passing that feedback on. They’ve also financially recompensed you. I can understand why you feel uncomfortable about the situation, but I don’t think that this will be a something that sets you back as you sound very committed to your sobriety and that’s fantastic, I applaud you.

😂

Is that sarcasm? I hope so.

You could have an elephant tap dance across the screen with jazz hands and a banner saying the product clearly displays that it contains alcohols and there will still be posts saying it's a disgrace that it didn't have an warning 'contains alcohol' on the front of the item!

Actually you've sold me on that elephant. That would really cheer up the online shopping.

These elephants would be great to indicate the info 'here, here, here!'

I disagree. It’s highly unusual to have alcohol in a chocolate pudding. You should name the other chocolate puddings you come across in the supermarket that contain alcohol. I come across none. Alcohol is a toxin and there is no getting away from that. It’s different to an allergy or to things not liked. It’s a poison for the body and that’s why the liver has to work hard to neutralise alcohol. I choose not to have to have this toxin in my food. It should be labelled in bold.

This was a game changer for me. Nine years sober, but I love me my other halfs vodka penne. Was one of my biggest post drinking wins, to learn this. I missed that pasta dish more than I mossed drinking itself.

Sainsburys couldn't really have made it much clearer that the puddings contain alcohol - it is shown clearly on the front and also in the list of ingredients on the back. You can't blame the manufacturer if you buy something without bothering to look at the ingredients.

It’s a toxin. That’s a good enough reason for bold type labelling.

But not at a quantity that could be considered toxic. Like arsenic in brown rice, that isn't labelled on the front.

It's abundantly clear you know nothing about allergies.

Even water can be toxic if you have enough of it.

It doesn't matter if it has 1% alcohol or a hefty slug of it. If it contains alcohol it should say so clearly.
There was a post a while ago about someone who'd given their child a dessert which contained alcohol (which was listed in the ingredients, but not an obvious inclusion in the dish).

Some people avoid alcohol for reasons of sobriety, some people avoid it for religious reasons.
The customer shouldn't have to scrutinise the packaging to find out whether something is suitable. If allergens can be labelled, and "contains nuts" made clear, then it's not a huge leap to add "contains alcohol".

There was a post a while ago about someone who'd given their child a dessert which contained alcohol (which was listed in the ingredients, but not an obvious inclusion in the dish).

What a dull thread that must have been.