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?

2 of Sainsbury's tiramisus refer to "marsala wine" in the description. The pistachio tiramisu doesn't but it has the "contains alcohol" wording.

I honestly don't know if I would have spotted this. It's odd to make a specific reference to "marsala" in 2 but omit in the other (presumably because in the 3rd one whatever the "alcohol" is, is cheap)

There’s always whingers .

This drives me insane. I have an intolerance to alcohol and I find puddings are the worst at labelling the alcohol. Fair enough, I expect it in tiramisu but not in profiteroles.

You just have to be really vigilant.

It's also randomly in a lot of salad dressings.

It's a bit blurry when I blow that up so can't see where it says alcohol on the front, but agree that it's important people take responsibility themselves about checking the full list of ingredients.

However - the allergens etc on the back are listed in bold, yet alcohol is not bold - so maybe this is a learning point for the manufacturers? Lots of people don't drink for many reasons - including religious and cultural beliefs - so you really would think it would be one of the ingredients that should be very clearly displayed!

(Although I suppose they don't with e.g. pork, although maybe they should......)

OP - I think you are right to raise this and maybe fight it as a bigger issue (if you have the time and the energy.....)

Again, the 14 allergens that appear in bold are not the choice of the manufacturer, they're legally required to be bolded (or underlined etc) as they are the most common allergens.

Anything CAN be an allergen, but some are more common than others, and allergies to alcohol are presumably rare or it would be included.

It says it on the front AND in the ingredients list; I think they’ve done enough tbh. Surely the onus is on the customer to read the packaging if they have a strong reason to avoid an ingredient.

Yes , true . But he’s happy to grab 10 bucks off them also .

I find that a lot of products contain alcohol and aren’t labelled as such. I don’t like the taste, so I keep going through ingredients meticulously if I think there’s the slightest chance. It’s actually easy - much worse eating out where it’s not necessarily always mentioned. I’d love for it to be me labelled so it’s easy to see but know it’s often not so reading ingredients it is…

Well it’s not all about you, and unfortunately for you most people have said it is quite obvious and in a good place to state it. Putting alcohol in the title would suggest to me that it’s a higher %.

I'm sorry OP, it should be labelled. I think things like alcohol should be on the front/made bigger on the packaging. There are lots of reasons people avoid alcohol and the ingredients section is often tiny writing.

Well done on your sobriety!

Once more with feeling....
ITS ON THE FRONT!!! and on the back.

The front packaging is not clear enough.
I wouldn't look at the website if I were in the shop.
Yes it might be in the ingredients list but is it bolded like nuts are? What's the point of putting it on the front if they don't think that's important.

I also think it (and the allergens) should be in braille

It is there on the front , white writing against a blue background. If I was never going to drink alcohol I would make sure I would scrutinise every bit of writing on the package. AND it is there . Front and listed on ingredients on the back . It’s not rocket science.

Again, only the top 14 allergens can be bolded. Alcohol isn't one, neither is meat.

YABU - if you have an aversion to ingredients -check the list -it was listed.

We've had this op. Boyfriend doesn't drink (was a problem drinker). Bought something similar to this.
I don't think it's right for it not to be labelled more clearly. He got caught out (we obviously do check more carefully now). But that's the point, we weren't expecting it to be there, as description was similar. So we weren't thinking 'let's see if this has alcohol in'. As it just wasn't obvious. We do check everything now.

The thread is evidence that a high percentage of people clearly expect everyone but themselves to be responsible for their choices. But this is MN where everyone is offended by everything by default.
Mind you, if the declaration would be bigger or more noticeable you’d have people on here complaining that they feel embarrassed to buy the product because people might judge them. This place is insane.

The pudding is described as a sponge biscuit layered with creamy chocolate hazelnut mascarpone and topped with hazelnuts and chocolate shavings. Where in that description makes you think that there may be alcohol in it? It doesn't. Why would I then be looking for micro writing on another part of the dessert front to see that it is alcoholic? Also anyone with poor sight will miss it completely.

@Kpo58 if any ingredient was an issue for you, you'd look!

I just want to know the alcohol that cannot speak its name - the one that would breach the trade descriptions act if it were described as an identifiable wine or spirit.

I’m baffled by the fact that many people here seem to think that it should be labelled with more prominence than allergens. And that they should somehow be exempt from the work of reading the ingredients list, unlike those with allergies or other medical issues.

I know that there are valid reasons for avoiding alcohol but surely then you would put in the work? People with allergies read every ingredient every time, not just places where we would expect an allergen. There are products marked vegan that actually contain traces of egg and milk. Skincare products made with sesame. Milk in medicines. Egg in a hard cheese.

If it’s crucial for you to avoid an ingredient for any reason, you have to read the ingredients.

You’re not kidding yourself. Chill.

Totally. All the gluten or fish, etc containing stuff does not say CONTAINS GLUTEN, CONTAINS PEANUTS in huge words on the front.

It's on the front, in bold white lettering. It's listed as an ingredient.

Weird that you are so concerned about the possibility that something might contain alcohol but can't be bothered to perform the simple act of checking the packaging for what a food item contains.