Poll - out of date stock on supermarket shelves

[brightncheerful]

If a use-by date has gone past, I would do nothing, but be annoyed, and wonder about the stock management in the store. It would incline me to start looking for another store with better management.

I could understand your being annoyed if after you'd bought the item you'd found it was past its use by date, but not otherwise. There could any number of reasons why the item had escaped the supermarket's attention.

Help is reciprocal and business is about service, about helping people in exchange for money. There are lots of reasons why people will pay for help. When I go shopping, my choice of where I shop includes being helpful to that particularly shop. If I were to find a past use-by date item then to be helpful I'd find and tell a member of the supermarket's staff. To do nothing would not be helpful, or rather it would be helpful but require the supermarket to find out for itself or from someone else. "To start looking for a store with better management" would require me to help myself when actually I could save time simply by pointing out the mistake to the store I'd already chosen. Only if the store I'd chosen continues to offer for sale items past use-by-date would i look elsewhere: that I would interpret as an unwillingness by the store to provide customer service.

[midnightcatprowl]

In both cases the older product was behind the newer stock so that does rather suggest that staff are not rotating the stock correctly, or at all.

Having owned and run a retail store myself I have to point out that things like older stock behind newer stock are often not due to staff actions (or lack of them) but to the bizarre activities of the public. The public often re-arrange stock on shelves. They are also prone to picking things up and carrying them about with them for a while, then deciding against them and dumping them down somewhere. In my shop you would be startled to find a pair of silver earrings perched on a jar of curry sauce, or a scarf which had been nicely displayed, screwed up and parked behind a display of handmade paper. In supermarkets it is why you find food which should be sold at chilled or ambient temperature mysteriously frozen along with the green peas or apples on the bread shelves. Some shops are, of course, not well kept, but I was a very keen shop owner with some very good staff and one thing you learn early on in retail is that it is easy to put out stock correctly in the first place but takes much longer to keep a constant eye out for stock which customers have mixed or 'parked' or hidden away and then sort it all out again.

N.B. The public often assume that there is some sort of science behind 'Best Before' dates but by and large there isn't and, until recently, food producers have felt under such pressure to put 'Best Before' dates on their products that they have often resorted to guesswork. It also leads to such absurdities as 'Best Before' dates on sugar and salt - items which are themselves preservatives and which simply do not change under normal storage conditions.

[Howyoudoin]

In both cases the older product was behind the newer stock so that does rather suggest that staff are not rotating the stock correctly, or at all.

Having owned and run a retail store myself I have to point out that things like older stock behind newer stock are often not due to staff actions (or lack of them) but to the bizarre activities of the public. The public often re-arrange stock on shelves.

You can count me in as one of the public taking part in these 'bizarre' activities. A four pint bottle of milk that has just been put on the shelf by staff will generally have a 'life' of just under a week. I don't use much milk and need it to last that long so if I pick one up that only has a day or two of 'life' left, I think 'cheeky buggers' and put it to the back. Similarly with bread.

HYD

[UncleEbenezer]

It also leads to such absurdities as 'Best Before' dates on sugar and salt - items which are themselves preservatives and which simply do not change under normal storage conditions.

While I entirely agree with your sentiment, I'd point out that sugar and salt do deteriorate over time, by picking up moisture from the air. After a few years they can be thoroughly soggy, no matter how well-packaged.
It's why I don't keep salt at all (nearest I have to it is stock cubes)[1], and only ever buy sugar in the smallest packages.

[didds]

N.B. The public often assume that there is some sort of science behind 'Best Before' dates but by and large there isn't and, until recently, food producers have felt under such pressure to put 'Best Before' dates on their products that they have often resorted to guesswork. It also leads to such absurdities as 'Best Before' dates on sugar and salt - items which are themselves preservatives and which simply do not change under normal storage conditions.

indeed. along withg mineral water with claims of having passed through ancient 10,000 year old rocks or whatever with abest before date of next tuesday.

WRT best before dates its clear that eg some brewers deleiberately put short BB dayes on their stock to force re-orders earlier. Of course that could mean that those ordering the stock would just order less initially - but its somewhat complicated by minimum order levels etc (I am told!)


didds

[Slarti]

I'd be very surprised if an item in a top 4 supermarket passed its Best Before or Use By date. They just turn over too much stock.

It is not unusual to find things with very short dates, or out of date in bid supermarkets, possibly because of people like me who, when looking to buy things like milk want a full weeks life on it and so will dig back on the shelf to get past the short life stuff that has been "fronted up"

Slarti

[Watis]

I'd be very surprised if an item in a top 4 supermarket passed its Best Before or Use By date. They just turn over too much stock.

It is not unusual to find things with very short dates, or out of date in bid supermarkets, possibly because of people like me who, when looking to buy things like milk want a full weeks life on it and so will dig back on the shelf to get past the short life stuff that has been "fronted up"

Slarti

For me, it was digging to the back of the shelf to find the freshest produce that revealed the out of date stock!

Watis

[Watis]

This week's experience has rather put me off buying groceries online. Some years ago I used to shop early in the morning and most other 'shoppers' at that hour were the pickers fulfilling online shopping orders. As you might expect, they pick from the front, no doubt because they are working against the clock. So they were not rejecting bruised fruit or expiring produce.

Watis

[Slarti]

You can count me in as one of the public taking part in these 'bizarre' activities. A four pint bottle of milk that has just been put on the shelf by staff will generally have a 'life' of just under a week. I don't use much milk and need it to last that long so if I pick one up that only has a day or two of 'life' left, I think 'cheeky buggers' and put it to the back. Similarly with bread.

If staff are doing their job properly they will always put the newest stock to the back of the shelf, so that the shorter life stuff is more likely to be sold. There are always those people who never look at the dates on produce, often the ones who will shop almost every day and get through a 4 pint of milk a day.

Putting short life stuff to the back of the shelf is not doing anybody any favours and probably contributes to food waste.

Slarti

[Howyoudoin]

You can count me in as one of the public taking part in these 'bizarre' activities. A four pint bottle of milk that has just been put on the shelf by staff will generally have a 'life' of just under a week. I don't use much milk and need it to last that long so if I pick one up that only has a day or two of 'life' left, I think 'cheeky buggers' and put it to the back. Similarly with bread.

If staff are doing their job properly they will always put the newest stock to the back of the shelf, so that the shorter life stuff is more likely to be sold. There are always those people who never look at the dates on produce, often the ones who will shop almost every day and get through a 4 pint of milk a day.

Putting short life stuff to the back of the shelf is not doing anybody any favours and probably contributes to food waste.

Slarti

Well it's doing people like me a favour. People who need their milk to last a week. Sorry if that doesn't please other people but I'm not shopping for other people, i'm shopping for me.

HYD

[JohnB]

Reporting out-of-date stock is a civic duty for public health. No organization is perfect, so it happens. The supermarket should then take the right action, binning past "Eat By" stock, offering past "Sell By" stock to good causes, and discounting past "Best By"

The best bit of my supermarket shop is hovering by the re-pricing lady at 8pm to get the 75% price reductions. Nearly everything freezes really. and once in my house the sniff test is good enough for things with clear leeway.

[Dod101]

In our local small supermarkets it is common to see milk, for example, marked down the day before its best before date. On occasion I had not noticed the reduced price, it being the only bottle(s) of that quality available.

It will normally last several days past that date.

Milk in our nearest Tesco and in the local Co-op both say 'Use by'. There is no 'Best before' date. In my experience, milk is delivered daily and it is thus usually fresh with a 'use by' date normally at least a week ahead, sometimes more. I do not find that it keeps beyond the 'use by' date. I cannot recall ever seeing milk being sold the day before its 'use by' date and since milk in many households will I assume stay in the fridge for a few days, it would be unworkable and unacceptable for those households to buy it that old.

If I found items beyond the 'use by' date I would create merry hell and maybe not return to the store. 'Best before' dates are a bit different but even so I want to buy produce well within the 'best before' date. Why do otherwise unless you are on a very tight budget?

I have never seen milk marked down.

Dod

[JohnB]

Sainsbury's mark down milk. Its a treat to get full fat and organic for peanuts. Milk goes well beyond its Use By, and its an ideal "sniff test" product.

The main reason I shop at Sainsburys, and not the equidistant Tesco is the former's more generous mark-down policies. I get all sorts of stuff 1/4 price, nice gammon steak for lunch.

[Slarti]

Well it's doing people like me a favour. People who need their milk to last a week. Sorry if that doesn't please other people but I'm not shopping for other people, i'm shopping for me.

I too want (not need) my milk to last a week, so as to avoid having to go shopping during the week, but I still wouldn't think of pushing short life to the back of the shelf.

I'm not that bloody minded. Or do I mean selfish?
And wouldn't want to waste the time doing it.

Slarti

[Raptor]

Shops are at the mercy of the depots supplying the milk. We get milk delivered 5 days a week. We have had deliveries of milk with dates prior to the days before deliveries.

I have no problem with customers going to the back and taking longer dated products or even asking if we have any with longer dates out back. My problem is with those €£¥₩s who take something from the back and leave the rest on the floor. Yes it does happen. We also have people who complain our sandwiches have very short dates, well we call them meal deals for a reason and expect them to be consumed that day....

Mind you I sympathise with you all. I sometimes wonder why I bother when I find products on the shelves days, , weeks or months out date? The longest we found was nearly a year, but it was at the back underneath the shelves. We then question how come our cleaners never found it....

To be honest there is no excuse and we spend a lot of time checking, but we make mistakes. Mind you I ask a question, how many of you check the dates of products in you cupboards?

Raptor.

[UncleEbenezer]

Mind you I ask a question, how many of you check the dates of products in you cupboards?

Raptor.

I think it was when I moved house in 2013 I found a condom dated about 1985. Decided against seeking an opportunity to test its validity.

But for food, surely it's the fridge not the cupboard where all the important things lurk. Some things I have no problem with consuming 'mature', others I take care to stay within or at least near the dates.

[johnstevens77]

[/quote]
Use Buy Dates are a statement that product will be either unsafe to eat or statistically likely to be unsafe to eat after the specified date.
Ian[/quote]

So something is safe to eat on, say, 31st Jan but unsafe on 1st Feb? There can be no hard and fast rule. It is surely a case of being cautious and not wanting to be sued for causing food poisoning.
Last week, I bought my first ready meal ever, Rogan Josh 1 day past it's use by date. It was in the employee's trolley as he was clearing outdated items off the shelves. We ate it with a fresh made cauliflower and potato curry. A very tasty lunch.

john

[bungeejumper]

Mind you I ask a question, how many of you check the dates of products in you cupboards?

As the general quartermaster in our household, I've usually got a fair grasp of the stuff in the cupboards and how long it's been there, although I do get caught out occasionally. A thorough chuck-out every year or so does the rest.

It was not always thus. Tinned fruit was often the worst offender, because we never eat it under normal circumstances and it's actually a mystery why we ever bought it? But we did have a can of peaches that had rotted right through to the point of leaking, and that was 11 years old. Whoops.

Otherwise, the kind of foods that go into cupboards are more likely to deteriorate quietly than to go properly bad. Flour and pasta can get weevils (keep it in a sealed tin); herbs and spices can just shrivel and mummify in their jars (I tolerate some for up to five years, but most for only two years maximum). But if sauces are in jars, with the popper lids still depressed, I'll probably keep them for three years at least.

Apologies for wheeling out an old story, but when I was studying in Berlin during the early seventies my elderly neighbour took pity on my poverty by inviting me round for sausages and sauerkraut. Nothing odd about that, of course, except that these sausages came from a neat row of jars on her kitchen shelf. With swastikas on the labels! Twenty five years after the war had ended, she was still consuming Hitler's rations. (She was no nazi, BTW - she was just poor enough not to have developed a taste for throwing food away.) The sausages were a bit watery and too salty, but otherwise passable. No, I didn't eat a whole one.

BJ

[Howyoudoin]

Just found these in the garage. No date on them but i'm sure they'll be fine.




HYD

[Slarti]

Just found these in the garage. No date on them but i'm sure they'll be fine.

Only if they've improved with age as they were terrible when new

Slarti