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?

What are you hoping they will do? They replied quickly, said they’d feed it back to packaging, and gave you a gift card.
Alcohol is used in lots of dishes to add flavour. I think it is on you to check, much like someone with an allergy or intolerance.
Well done on your sobriety, that’s a fantastic achievement!

Are you expecting them to list all the common allergens and alcohol on the front of the packaging? I presume it also contained dairy, egg, nuts etc.

If you want to go further you should. We are annoyed at Sainsbury's for leaving alcohol next to the tills. We manage to avoid the aisles piled high then the end aisles but lately it's nearly blocking the entrance to the self serve bottles of spirits. Very annoying.
Well done on your sobriety hope this hasn't made you buckle.

I think their response is valid, they are raising it with the packaging department

It does say 'contains alcohol' on the front though - you missed that. I get it's upset you, but it is labelled correctly, albeit that it could be bolder

Something like alcohol needs to be more prominently displayed.

Not just because of recovering alcoholics who may be triggered by it, but people who avoid alcohol for religious reasons, people who might give the dessert to their children and not want them to have alcohol.

It’s’ just not reasonable to expect people to scrutinise the small print when alcohol has the potential for wider implication.

If it's been cooked off then actually you only need to boil on a high heat and the alcohol evaporates very quickly is my understanding?

Oh yes, it says it on the front.

Did your packaging look like this OP?

What would you like Sainsbury's to do above what they have already responded?

Agreed with others that you need to read the ingredients every time if there is something that you need to avoid. It’s annoying but becomes second nature.

This is somewhat of a myth. While alcohol does partially evaporate during cooking, it takes an awfully long time (3hrs) at high temperatures to eradicate alcohol content completely. After 30 minutes of typical cooking, around 35% of the alcohol will remain.

Needless to say, this was a dessert. If the alcohol was in the cream or chocolate element, it was likely still completely intact.

Why do these people have a priority over people for whom the ingredients could harm or kill them? The ingredients list is where you have to look.

It should have been clear on the packaging - bearing in mind not only the health implications of alcohol content but the religious and cultural implications too.

However, I think Sainsburys have responded fairly to your complaint.

If they receive a number of complaints about this issue, it should be picked up and fed back so the packaging is changed - complaints departments in large organisations have root cause analysis teams to pick up and act on trends.

Interesting read of comments....
And while you might say that the onus is on OP to check, why then do we label clearly other foods with a vegetarian or vegan symbol? As surely a vegetarian/vegan is also capable of checking an ingredients list?
In my mind, it's comparable to that..... unlike the allergens which are required to be highlighted...

It absolutely should say. It’s not just you there are also people who would want to avoid alcohol for other reasons such as religion and would be pretty pissed off. It should just be in the description. If they can mention chocolate shavings they can mention rum

Alcohol is a restricted substance. Allergens aren’t.

We don't, some foods declare qualities at the front but not all do, it's a choice and one which has more to do with marketing than anything else. This is why the ingredients list is so important.

I bought these yesterday and had the same problem (though its a taste issue for me). It has flavours of alcohol and coffee but this is not in the main description on the front. Given how long this description is, I thought it would cover everything.

If the front had just said chocolate hazelnut pot then I would have checked the back for more details. But the front actual says: "sponge biscuit, layered with creamy chocolate hazelnit mascarpone and topped with chopped hazelnuts and chocolate shavings".
That to me is a full description but it differs somewhat to the description on the back. It was like 2 different puddings.

If someone is avoiding an ingredient then I'd say it really doesn't need to be any more clear or prominent than saying, "contains alcohol" on the front of the packaging like that.

It is on the front. Look at the photo someone has provided.

I think it is your job to check the ingredients just like people with allergies do. What are you expecting Sainsburys to do for you?

I di think it should state on the front of the package on items where you wouldnt automatically expect to find alcohol in, like these puddings.

However, if the packaging is the same as the one someone has linked up the thread, it does state on the front so I'd say the onus there is on the buyer to check and notice it, it is written on the front.

I suppose vegetarian/vegan is the absence of something (and they want these products to be clearly seen by veggies so they are brought!). You don’t get a warning note on non-veggie items that says ‘contains meat’, which would be the equivalent.

You also have to scrutinise the ingredients list and small print on the back to check that the product is vegetarian, because many puddings similar to that could contain gelatine, so wouldn't be.

Note that it also says 'keep flat' so they don't really want a load of people tipping it upside down in the shop, seeing that it contains alcohol or coffee flavour that's not mentioned on the front and deciding to put the now messed up dessert back on the shelf.

They are dealing with it and have given you a £10 voucher. When you say take it further do you mean try for more money?

Unfortunately I find Sainsbury's one of the least useful supermarkets for food restrictions. They will often have wheat as the 15th item on an ingredient list (so I can't risk it but it can't actually be affecting the taste) and then flog a gluten free alternate for an extra couple of quid, and simultaneously make it dairy free when dairy is a crucial ingredient. Don't be surprised if their solution is to make an alcohol free, nut free, gluten free, dairy free, vegan* 'chocolate and fake hazelnut' version and put a mark up on it.

I don't like the taste of spirits, but love chocolate and I have been caught out before with such desserts. It is often low down the list but a powerful taste. I would scrutinise all lists of similar food in future.

Well done for being sober, a great achievement and I hope you can get them to change the packaging.

*I have no problem with other people having food restrictions and they probably find it just as annoying that they are told they can't have gluten in their pizza just because they have a dairy allergy.

Absolutely this.