To be annoyed by the waste of perfectly good food nearing their sell by dates by supermarkets

[pigletmania]

I went to a main supermarket today and and got some perfectly good grapes that were reduced and tomatoes, they were in great condition, however on taking them to the till I was told that it was against the law for them to sell me the fruit as they were near on their sell by date.

What a waste I thought, perfectly good fruit and veg going in the bin, I am about it, surely its up to me to decide if its fit to eat. I can understand about meat/fish and dairy products as it could make you quite ill if its out of date, but fruit/veg/bread etc.

I don't see why it's against the law. Surely that's the point of the reduced sections?

Exactly, the grapes were lovely looking forward to eating them, yet they were going to be put in the bin , its sad all that waste when there are people in the world who are going hungry.

I would've asked for them for free. If it against the law to sell them, can it do any harm to have them for nothing?

But don;'t supermarkets do this all the time? That is the whole point of having a reduced section after all, that the products are near or past their sell by date.

Why do they reduce prices then?

I'd have said well if you can't sell them to me then you can give them to me for free.

Which supermarket was it?

Surely it's not illegal for them to sell them just because they are NEAR their sell-by date?! After the sell by date I can understand, but surely they can sell them up till then . . .

I've never heard of a supermarket refusing to sell reduced stuff ..I'm the queen of the reduced items...asda at 7 on a friday evening is especally good for a bargain

Either they were on their sell by or near, it was co op btw. I should have asked them for free doh

It's a legal thing-wallmart got sued for huge amounts by some idiots who ate old food so now they're just playing safe. Makes me sad to think of all the charities etc who would benefit from it ( although a friend of a friend is a supermarket manager and she takes all choccies and crisps to a near by womens shelter :D)

They ought to have a word with my local Sainsburys then who have reduced sections in just about every aisle.

Sell by dates do not exist in UK major retailers. There are Use By Dates and Best Before Dates.

It is an offence to sell something past its Use By Date (for safety reasons) but not past its Best Before which just means that the quality may not be as good.

I would imagine the fruit had a BB date and that the member of staff had made a mistake.

i think the person that served you was being a bit dim. by that, i mean that they've mis-interpreted what they've been told.

if the fruit is past its use by date they can't sell it, but if it's on the shelf then they obviously can sell it (ie it's not yet past its use by date)
sounds like the cashier got the wrong end of the stick.

She rang up the grapes and tomatoes on the till and it told her that she could not sell them really . Next time it happens i will ask for them free. Think they had a BB date.