Supermarket or Convenience store
Discussion
I usually do my shopping in the large Tesco Extra because it's only a 10 minute brisk walk away.
But the last couple of times i've wanted a few things, and couldn't be bothered with a 10 minute brisk walk, i've resorted to the many convenience stores on my commute home. I commute by bicycle btw.
2 days and dozens of convenience stores later and I can't for the life of me find a decent pasta sauce. I assume Jamie Oliver is contracted to Sainsbury so I would have lived with Lloyd Grossman before I entered any of the convenience stores. Having searched high and low, i'd have taken any stir in pasta sauce, but they only had spag bol sauce. Shelves of the stuff.
As most of my diet consists of breakfast cereals, I took advantage of the £1.49 boxes of Alpen. I bought 3! I also bought a huge bottle of milk that I didn't really need, out of appreciation of them selling me my favourite cereal cheap.
Got home, grabbed a bowl from the dishwasher (cupboard was further away and I was starving :hehe ) and poured most of the contents of the packet into it.
Got the milk out of the back and noticed that there was a lot of cream near the lid. Checked the date and it was a couple of days expired.
Not the end of the world as I had plenty more. But I thought i'd check the expiry date on the Alpen. It had expired 2 months or so.
I got caught out again a couple of days ago, again with Alpen. Small box but with the price marked on it so the shopkeeper couldn't put his usuall mark up on it. Got home and checked the date and again it was out of date.
Do shop keepers buy close to/out of date food cheap or are they not turning the goods round often enough?
The final nail in the coffin for convenience stores is that the 2 closest to me can't get their arses out of bed before 8am at the weekends. So I can't even get a newspaper if I wake up early enough.
I popped into Sainsbury after work yesterday. It's sort of on the way home, but adds a mile or so. There was so much variety, and none of it (I didn't check it tbh) past it's sell by date. And I got some pasta sauce. They had no Jamie Oliver oddly enough, but they were knocking out Gordon Ramsey sauce at 75p a bottle
Convenience store owners, if you can't offer a good service, please don't moan when your customers start going elsewhere....including trading standards
But the last couple of times i've wanted a few things, and couldn't be bothered with a 10 minute brisk walk, i've resorted to the many convenience stores on my commute home. I commute by bicycle btw.
2 days and dozens of convenience stores later and I can't for the life of me find a decent pasta sauce. I assume Jamie Oliver is contracted to Sainsbury so I would have lived with Lloyd Grossman before I entered any of the convenience stores. Having searched high and low, i'd have taken any stir in pasta sauce, but they only had spag bol sauce. Shelves of the stuff.
As most of my diet consists of breakfast cereals, I took advantage of the £1.49 boxes of Alpen. I bought 3! I also bought a huge bottle of milk that I didn't really need, out of appreciation of them selling me my favourite cereal cheap.
Got home, grabbed a bowl from the dishwasher (cupboard was further away and I was starving :hehe ) and poured most of the contents of the packet into it.
Got the milk out of the back and noticed that there was a lot of cream near the lid. Checked the date and it was a couple of days expired.
Not the end of the world as I had plenty more. But I thought i'd check the expiry date on the Alpen. It had expired 2 months or so.
I got caught out again a couple of days ago, again with Alpen. Small box but with the price marked on it so the shopkeeper couldn't put his usuall mark up on it. Got home and checked the date and again it was out of date.
Do shop keepers buy close to/out of date food cheap or are they not turning the goods round often enough?
The final nail in the coffin for convenience stores is that the 2 closest to me can't get their arses out of bed before 8am at the weekends. So I can't even get a newspaper if I wake up early enough.
I popped into Sainsbury after work yesterday. It's sort of on the way home, but adds a mile or so. There was so much variety, and none of it (I didn't check it tbh) past it's sell by date. And I got some pasta sauce. They had no Jamie Oliver oddly enough, but they were knocking out Gordon Ramsey sauce at 75p a bottle
Convenience store owners, if you can't offer a good service, please don't moan when your customers start going elsewhere....including trading standards
its illegal for them to sell you out of date food and there has been a few cases of big chains being fined from 5,000 to 50,000 depending on the severity of the case. At work there is a pin up of one such case against Sainsbury's (theirs was very severe as it was many stores, in south london, with quite a lot of out of date stock)
They have cleaned up their act since last year though.
They have cleaned up their act since last year though.
Edited by LovelyTia on Wednesday 14th October 18:27
actually no shops aren't allowed to have anything on its shelves that have gone past a Best Before, Display until or most definitely use by. I'm a supervisor in a well known chain of stores and that is a law which is constantly checked by mystery shoppers and health and hygiene officials.
This is why so much gets reduced on the day as what doesn't get sold goes in the bins out back. Things like vegetables and bread have to be sold on or before the best before as this is the date we are told to remove it from our shelves and waste it, yet it still has 2 days till its use by date comes.
This is why so much gets reduced on the day as what doesn't get sold goes in the bins out back. Things like vegetables and bread have to be sold on or before the best before as this is the date we are told to remove it from our shelves and waste it, yet it still has 2 days till its use by date comes.
Edited by LovelyTia on Wednesday 14th October 18:55
Mojooo said:
Well the shop can still sell somehting after its BEST BEFORE date, just not its USE BY date.
Did you try the Alpen to check whether it was past its best?
Obviously they cannot sell milk past its USE BY date, so if its a common problem i would have a word.
No I didn't try eating it, although I was tempted. I'd just got better after nearly a week being ill and didn't want to chance it. Did you try the Alpen to check whether it was past its best?
Obviously they cannot sell milk past its USE BY date, so if its a common problem i would have a word.
LovelyTia said:
actually no shops aren't allowed to have anything on its shelves that have gone past a Best Before, Display until or most definitely use by. I'm a supervisor in a well known chain of stores and that is a law which is constantly checked by mystery shoppers and health and hygiene officials.
This is why so much gets reduced on the day as what doesn't get sold goes in the bins out back. Things like vegetables and bread have to be sold on or before the best before as this is the date we are told to remove it from our shelves and waste it, yet it still has 2 days till its use by date comes.
So is it legal for convenience stores to discount food that is past it's sell by date? I've seen this quite a few times on crisps. I assumed that by bringing it to the attention of shoppers, they weren't doing anything wrong.This is why so much gets reduced on the day as what doesn't get sold goes in the bins out back. Things like vegetables and bread have to be sold on or before the best before as this is the date we are told to remove it from our shelves and waste it, yet it still has 2 days till its use by date comes.
Edited by LovelyTia on Wednesday 14th October 18:55
USE BY dates come on goods that perish and can make you ill if you eat it after that date. It IS illegal to sell food after their use by date.
BEST BEFORE, SELL BY and DISPLAY UNTIL dates can be legally sold and do NOT have to be reduced.
Obviously if you are selling manky goods then you will probably get done for some offence somewhere or other.
A lot of shops either don;t understand the rules or are paranoid. Of course it makes good sense to reduce stuff past tis best before as people are not going to take the old stuff before the fresh stuff are they - and again, people may not buy stuff after its best before thinking its 'off'.
The FSA website can confirm:
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/foodlabels/asksam...
What do 'use by', 'best before' and 'display until' mean?
'Use by' means exactly that. You shouldn't use any food or drink after the end of the 'use by' date shown on the label. Even if it looks and smells fine, using it after this date could put your health at risk and cause food poisoning.
You will usually find a 'use by' date on food that goes off quickly, such as milk, soft cheese, ready-prepared salads and smoked fish.
It's also important to follow any storage instructions given on food labels, otherwise the food might not last until the 'use by' date. Usually food with a 'use by' date needs to be kept in the fridge.
'Best before' dates are usually used on foods that last longer, such as frozen, dried or canned foods. It should be safe to eat food after the 'best before' date, but the food will no longer be at its best. After this date, the food might begin to lose its flavour and texture.
However, you shouldn't eat eggs after the 'best before' date. This is because eggs can contain salmonella bacteria, which could start to multiply after this date.
Some food labels also give instructions such as 'eat within a week of opening' and it's important to follow these instructions. But remember, if the 'use by' date is tomorrow, then you must use the food by the end of tomorrow, even if the label says 'eat within a week of opening' and you have only opened the food today.
'Display until' and 'sell by' dates are instructions for shop staff to tell them when they should take a product off the shelves.
BEST BEFORE, SELL BY and DISPLAY UNTIL dates can be legally sold and do NOT have to be reduced.
Obviously if you are selling manky goods then you will probably get done for some offence somewhere or other.
A lot of shops either don;t understand the rules or are paranoid. Of course it makes good sense to reduce stuff past tis best before as people are not going to take the old stuff before the fresh stuff are they - and again, people may not buy stuff after its best before thinking its 'off'.
The FSA website can confirm:
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/foodlabels/asksam...
What do 'use by', 'best before' and 'display until' mean?
'Use by' means exactly that. You shouldn't use any food or drink after the end of the 'use by' date shown on the label. Even if it looks and smells fine, using it after this date could put your health at risk and cause food poisoning.
You will usually find a 'use by' date on food that goes off quickly, such as milk, soft cheese, ready-prepared salads and smoked fish.
It's also important to follow any storage instructions given on food labels, otherwise the food might not last until the 'use by' date. Usually food with a 'use by' date needs to be kept in the fridge.
'Best before' dates are usually used on foods that last longer, such as frozen, dried or canned foods. It should be safe to eat food after the 'best before' date, but the food will no longer be at its best. After this date, the food might begin to lose its flavour and texture.
However, you shouldn't eat eggs after the 'best before' date. This is because eggs can contain salmonella bacteria, which could start to multiply after this date.
Some food labels also give instructions such as 'eat within a week of opening' and it's important to follow these instructions. But remember, if the 'use by' date is tomorrow, then you must use the food by the end of tomorrow, even if the label says 'eat within a week of opening' and you have only opened the food today.
'Display until' and 'sell by' dates are instructions for shop staff to tell them when they should take a product off the shelves.
M400 NBL said:
LovelyTia said:
actually no shops aren't allowed to have anything on its shelves that have gone past a Best Before, Display until or most definitely use by. I'm a supervisor in a well known chain of stores and that is a law which is constantly checked by mystery shoppers and health and hygiene officials.
This is why so much gets reduced on the day as what doesn't get sold goes in the bins out back. Things like vegetables and bread have to be sold on or before the best before as this is the date we are told to remove it from our shelves and waste it, yet it still has 2 days till its use by date comes.
So is it legal for convenience stores to discount food that is past it's sell by date? I've seen this quite a few times on crisps. I assumed that by bringing it to the attention of shoppers, they weren't doing anything wrong.This is why so much gets reduced on the day as what doesn't get sold goes in the bins out back. Things like vegetables and bread have to be sold on or before the best before as this is the date we are told to remove it from our shelves and waste it, yet it still has 2 days till its use by date comes.
Edited by LovelyTia on Wednesday 14th October 18:55
I am quite sure your company policy will be not to sell any food that is past expiry ,but in the case of BB it would not be breaking the law to do so.
ETA Too slow. Again!
Edited by Rollcage on Wednesday 14th October 22:04
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