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?

Pretty clearly displayed on the front of the packaging.

Yet so many have missed it.

I wonder what people think Sainsbury's are trying to do here. 'Help for people with alcohol issues' or 'sell a pudding including details of all ingredients and allergens on the label'.

If you're trying to avoid an ingredient, you need to scour the packaging. That's on you, and it's the same for everyone, whatever they're trying to avoid. Why does the packaging have to assume you can't read text the same size as the ingredients list?

There are many examples of people missing things. If the solution is to write it bigger, how big do you think red traffic lights need to be for cyclists?

Ive seen a new advert out for our local Sainsburys over the weekend, its for someone to sound a klaxon over at the chilled dessert aisle every time one of these is picked up

So some one is on the case for sure!

😂

But people wouldn't be looking in that random corner of the packaging to check if it was alcohol free, they would be looking in the name of the product and the description of it. Both of those make me think that the dessert is suitable for my 8 year old.

But people wouldn't be looking in that random corner of the packaging

If you're avoiding an ingredient, you need look all over the packaging to make sure it's not in the product. This is basic shopping 101. Sainsbury's isn't a public health body.

@soupfiend was that the one which asked for previous riot training skills too to stand in front of the chill cabinet and hold people back at first before they confirm they've read it?..

I'm not sure but bigger than they are because so many cyclists seem to fly through red lights I have observed.

But people wouldn't be looking in that random corner of the packaging to check if it was alcohol free, they would be looking in the name of the product and the description of it. Both of those make me think that the dessert is suitable for my 8 year old.

"Random corner of the packaging" like one of the four possible, in a small area?

NOT CLEAR they need to move the spoon or just move it to on the purple bit under the product name

But yet loads of people missed it which shows that it's not that clear.

No

This just shows that loads of people don't read signs or labels.

Once I had to unexpectedly close my shop for an hour during the day while some software was updated and I was being shown how to use it and I'd put a sign on the door explaining something like:

CLOSED BETWEEN 1400-1500
Essential maintenance. Sorry for any inconvenience

Then sat there doing the training watching customer after customer come up and try the door. Then they'd either step back and look at it, read the sign and walk off, or they'd try the door again, then try opening it from a different side. Then they'd pull on the door, push on it, walk off and come back and try again immediately, then they'd bang on it. A customer even rang me to ask what was happening. Whilst standing in front of the large clear sign telling him what was happening.

There is no amount of accommodation possible for those that do not seek the information that is there in front of them.

They could just label them BOOZE and NOT BOOZE and you have to check the ingredients to see what type of dessert it is.

Put the booze containing ones in plain packaging and keep them out of sight, the booze warning label should cover at least 2/3 of the front of the packet and include graphic pictures of people suffering the deleterious effects of alcohol

You could even make it like the tobacco packaging is now? No photos or pics on the packaging? Just the CONTAINS TOXIC BOOZE on the front and list of ingredients on the back?

🤣🙈oh dear. You had a tenner out of it OP. You could’ve just had a response saying it’s typed on the front of the packet!

So no, I wouldn’t escalate a non issue.

It's bizarre that in the same dessert range of around 5 products they sell a tiramisu and chocolate hazelnut pots, with the chocolate hazelnut pots also containing alcohol and coffee and for some reason they don't clearly explain that in the description of what the product is 😂

Nope.

When it comes to food people generally get a good idea based on the description.
I wouldn't have went looking for 'contains alcohol' on this product or to see if there was any other ingredients I didn't like, such as coffee.

Seeing as the name and description was
chocolate hazelnut pots - sponge biscuit layered with creamy chocolate hazelnut mascarpone and topped with hazelnuts and chocolate shavings.

The tiramisu, (which was likely to be right next to it because it's from the same range) name and description was

Amaretto Tiramisu -
Savoiardi biscuit soaked in coffee and amaretto liquor sauce topped with mascarpone and Marsala wine cream.

Also as I said, online there's no mention of alcohol in the description except for in the ingredients. And I don't think people would be zooming into the packaging to look all over for it!

So there would be a natural assumption that the chocolate pots don't contain alcohol. Of course those with life threatening allergens can't afford to make assumptions, however for the rest of the population many do because that's how our brains work. It's not a bad thing, it's not laziness, it's just how humans are and how the supermarkets operate in order to provide a convenient experience for customers and for themselves. Imagine how annoying it would be if all products were so badly described that everyone had to check all over the packaging of everything to try to establish what it was going to taste like! People would be standing there for ages blocking up the aisles.

Customers do expect certain things like the flavour of the product to be described as accurately as possible and generally, the vast majority of the time supermarkets get that right and they do name and describe it correctly. In this case they didn't.

In regards to your door, things like that tend to be just people checking because they've been inconvenienced and they hope you'll let them in😂

Yes but if it's important to someone, and they're not availing themselves of the information that's there, it's either not that important to them or they're deeply stupid. There is only so far society can accommodate stupid before it ruins it for everyone

An example of when it might be important to someone would be that when your particular circumstances had led you to be 2.5 years sober and you have an express desire to not taste alcohol again. That kind of thing.

I have a preference, not a need, to avoid artificial sweetener and they are appearing in everything. I check labels, I don't buy stuff with sweeteners listed. In about 20+ years of doing this I haven't had artificial sweeteners. I don't have a super power

@kkloo

I wouldn't have went looking for 'contains alcohol' on this product or to see if there was any other ingredients I didn't like, such as coffee

Then you probably end up buying things you don't end up liking. It's your problem. It's got 'Contains alcohol' written on the box. If writing it on the front of the box and in the ingredients list isn't enough, what do you want? A flag, for your individual preferences?

If you don't 'go looking' to find out if something has an ingredient, you won't find out if it's in there!

Do you think all the products should have the same ingredients, then? Or that all the ingredients should be 'explained'? Can't quite understand what you're getting at with this post.

I mean......it's also the supermarkets problem seeing as most of them have an "If this product fails to meet your expectations" satisfaction guarantee.

Oh another one asking what is it that we want?
I've already answered that loads of times. I just think it should be labelled more clearly and actually in the name or description.

I tend to agree with you, it should say 'contains alcohol' on the lid or on the front in a prominent place.

I remember reading Tony Adam's biography years ago - and he said when his team won a major tournament someone opened and sprayed a bottle of champagne around and some of the alcohol touched his lips and he tasted it and how massively unsettling and triggering this was being a recovering alcoholic.

If a product has alcoholic content it should be clearly labelled in my view - even if it is only a 'taste'

Yes, but I bet Tony didn’t say that they should not have sprayed the bottle, or that he should not have been expected to stay around for the celebration in case anyone started spraying champagne.