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?

@PuddlesPityParty Common sense prevails! I feel I need to step away from this thread and lie down!!

I'm actually more suprised more people don't accidentally eat "toxins", the reading comprehension on this thread is shocking 😅

A miniscule amount is an issue for people with alcohol dependency. It doesn't necessarily mean physical dependence, it can also be psychological. Addiction is complex.
Perhaps some sort of symbol could be added to packaging.

Maybe you could learn from the eloquent posters 😊

I'm on quite a restricted diet. I check everything before eating (any ingredients list) i think the response was fair and you should be responsible for checking.

Yes, you need to check the ingredients list. I think the shop did what was reasonable.

Same, but now I know why things like toilet duck and cleaning pods have to have a 'do not eat' warning!

You need to inform yourself about alcohol. Alcohol is a toxin. The WHO puts it in the Class one carcinogenic substance category as a toxin along with tobacco and asbestos etc. There is no safe level. The people here who have quoted fermented foods such as ripe bananas, bread with yeast and such like that have alcohol in from the process of fermentation have such small amounts that it doesn’t get put into the blood as the normal liver can handle the alcohol right away. Obviously fermentation needs to be controlled so that a liquid doesn’t become alcoholic to the point of blood alcohol detection. Drinking alcohol found in wine, beer etc causes a detectable blood level of alcohol whilst the liver deals with processing the overload. There is no safe level established in any situation. Would I buy/eat/drink a product with alcohol in it? No thanks.

So then. Read. The. Ingredients.

I’ll avoid this pudding. I can’t stand coffee tasting things at all and it doesn’t even mention that on the description. And I am tea total and can’t stand the taste of alcohol. I’m not in recovery, not religious reasons. I just don’t like the taste. I’d have ended up binning this and wasting my money.

I do. I avoid all alcohol and other products.

Someone with an alcoholism problem should be more careful.

But not expect the entire world to swivel on their needs. You need to take responsibility for both the problem and your solution and continued mental health.

I'm surprised, since children could be involved. A child under the age of 5 years is not legally allowed to drink alcohol at home or anywhere else.

Even if you buy miso soup - you cannot pass supermarket check-out without an age check.

So this seems to be a legal problem.

Because if you weren't carded at check-out with a product containing alcohol - they were breaking the law. But I suspect you were - but just unaware which product you were being stopped for, and now want to make a drama out of it.

YANBU to bring it up with Sainsburys however YABU to take it any further. It’s not one of the listed allergens, it’s just an ingredient and you wouldn’t expect all the ingredients to be listed on the front.

I’m a veggie and I always check the ingredients of new products for meat or meat based products. I don’t expect them to be listed in the description.

That's a hell of an accusation to make to a recovering alcoholic.

Being ID for a cake?! I've heard it all now.

It does show it in the front, not in bold but surely it's up to you look if you don't want any alcohol

Yes, this. And there would have been a negligible amount in there.

Your last paragraph makes it sound like you think she bought loads of alcohol but then decided to complain to sainsburys that there was some alcohol in her dessert.

But it's not true that she would be carded anyway, I'm not sure what the rules are regarding alcohol in food, but if she was getting served at the checkout she might not even notice the check for age flag that would come up for the cashier. She's only know if the cashier decided she needed to check her age.

A symbol would be a great idea. I suggest a series of straight and curved lines forming the following shape:

CONTAINS ALCOHOL

Like, oh, the one already on the front of the packaging.

If it doesn't get into the blood, how do you think it reaches the liver?

Yeah if people ask me how it could be clearer I'll tell them!

Could still be in braille though. And without the spoon in the background. And in a better place under the name of the product

Right but people can look but not be able to see tiny writing in white on a silver spoon. Some people can't even see.

We need to do better as a society than saying its there look in tiny white lettering

take it further, that is a disgrace!

To the point of being detectable. Happy to explain.