Supermarket RANT!!

[Sunbeam]

I am currently in the process of ranting at my local supermarket - the topic of this exchange of views is over the short-shelf life of their produce - namely meat etc... I purchased a free-range chook from them one Thurs afternoon and popped it into my fridge, expecting to be able to eat it for Sunday Lunch (3 days later) When I took it out of the fridge, I opened the packaging and it was a little whiffy... when I checked the use by date I found it was thursday I purchased it!

This was annoying, especially as I paid full price for it (and the fact that I had my Mother in Law with us for lunch and with me when I found out it was off) - but what peed me off completely was the fact that the 'sell-by date' and the 'use-by date' were one and the same ! And having looked at other meat products I found that both were the same again!!!

I have complained to the retailer in question and had a very corporate reponse telling me how***** valued my opinion and hope that I enjoy shopping with them, BUT that food retailers are allowed to sell the product at full price until close of the use-by date.

I have informed them that whilst they may be allowed to do so it is poor practise and not acceptable to the consumer ie ME! But also that they missed the point of my complaint which is the lack of difference between sell-by and use-by dates - I will be buying local produce from now and andnot be using their services for anything but necessities from here on !! RANT OVER

Has anyone else noticed this ??

[Earthbabe]

I must admit Sunbeam I haven't but I've not looked. Bought some chicken pieces to freeze from a national chain which were well in date. Opened packet and nearly keeled over. They gave me my money back without question - customer service girl didn't need to get too close to make that decision. Apparently due to a small hole in the packaging which was too small to see!!!

Though with the current furough over imported eggs and some of the exposes about the meat industry it does make one think twice.

You are doing the right thing sunbeam by voting with your feet. Appalling example of capitalism and greed at its worst.

[Alison]

Don't shop in the supermarket unless I really have to as am fed up with the pathetic choice of anything I'd acually want to buy. If I do then have always checked sell by dates pretty carefully am have been amazed over time how often they're selling stuff over date - make a point of letting them know and have almost always been greated by a total lack of indifference. Seems that Sunbeams supermaket is trying to ensure that they can keep produce on the shelf as long as they can without having to reduce it. Mind you, the best I remember seeing is a single day difference between the sell by and use by dates on meat which isn't much more. Lesson learnt for the future I suppose.

[bootie]

I am currently in the process of ranting at my local supermarket - the topic of this exchange of views is over the short-shelf life of their produce - namely meat etc... I purchased a free-range chook from them one Thurs afternoon and popped it into my fridge, expecting to be able to eat it for Sunday Lunch (3 days later) When I took it out of the fridge, I opened the packaging and it was a little whiffy... when I checked the use by date I found it was thursday I purchased it!

This was annoying, especially as I paid full price for it (and the fact that I had my Mother in Law with us for lunch and with me when I found out it was off) - but what peed me off completely was the fact that the 'sell-by date' and the 'use-by date' were one and the same ! And having looked at other meat products I found that both were the same again!!!

I have complained to the retailer in question and had a very corporate reponse telling me how***** valued my opinion and hope that I enjoy shopping with them, BUT that food retailers are allowed to sell the product at full price until close of the use-by date.

I have informed them that whilst they may be allowed to do so it is poor practise and not acceptable to the consumer ie ME! But also that they missed the point of my complaint which is the lack of difference between sell-by and use-by dates - I will be buying local produce from now and andnot be using their services for anything but necessities from here on !! RANT OVER

Has anyone else noticed this ??

It must be a c*** supermarket you use my wife is a stock controller at the No.3 supermarket and she reduces the next days date. But why wait to purchase meat at the last moment or is it to just get it cheap
I used to work on the meat counter and was supervisor on the deli and I used to get really p****d off with customers demanding, yes, demanding reductions near the close of business

[pigletwillie]

We do shop at the supermarkets, mainly for dunny rolls and the like but do buy fruit that we cannot grow from them and other odd veggies. We never however buy meat from them. We have a superb butcher 100 yards away and people come from surrounding villages to use him.

The reason for this is solely on the quality of his meat. His beef for example is hung for at leat 4 weeks, the lamb comes from the next village and all of his poultry is free range. I may be fortunate with having this butcher but why would you want to buy vac packed "chicken" thats probably been imported from Spain along with their dodgy eggs.

Support your local butcher and buy real meat with some provenance.

[bootie]

Well said! Piglet

[pickledtink]

Another vote for real local food here. It tastes so much better than that underhung supermarket flabby stuff. I find supermarket meat dry and tough too.
My local Butcher sells local organic Pork (tucking into one of these chops makes you realise supermarket pork is like cardboard), Free range chickens, Lamb from the next county and beef which is well hung and tender, It costs no more ( or very little) than supermarket meat either.

[kirsty b]

I can honestly say I have never really looked at dates on food unless its in the reduced section, going to now though and check that the packaging isn't damaged.
Ideally I would only go to a butcher thats a few miles away because his meat is lovely and the service is wonderful. I'm an infrequent visitor to his shop, but he always says hello and lets me have bones for the dog.
I agree that most supermarket meat is pricey for what you actually get, but my budget can be pretty tight at times and I have to make it stretch as far as I can (hence decision to start growing my own as much as possible).
Perhaps the money saved on supermarket veggies can go towards better meat

Kirsty

[Alison]

The other advantage of getting a relationship going with your local butcher (no Nick I didn't mean like that!) is that they should be able to advise you on how to get the best out of a particular cut of meat. Also, with better quality meat and usually a better selection from the butchers you can make some great meals out of the cheaper cuts - particularly at this time of year when a good casserole or stew goes down a treat.

However as said in one of the above posts the quality of butchers does vary considerably and there are plenty about who are actually worse than the supermarkets! Best to look about and do the best you can in your area.

[pigletwillie]

I agree with you Alison with regard to utilising the cheaper cuts. It seems to be a thing of the past slow cooking cheaper cuts but in reality they are the tastiest ones.

If anyone saw Heston Blumenthal's steak programme the other day, all of the chefs regard fillet steak (the most expensive) as boring to cook and tasteless. He used a forerib of beef which is a cut we always use if roasting beef as I feel its the best tasting. I am going to try using it for steaks as well as it is wonderfully marbled. A bonus is that its much cheaper than fillet.

Try slow cooked stewing steak (left as steaks) cooked with shallots, mushrooms and the holy trinity of veg. Cheap and wonderfully tasty.

[Snadger]

I think what sometimes happens is a potential buyer picks up chicken/meat from the chiller section and for whatever reason decides they don't want it and put it down on another shelf! Storekeeper comes along, sees item is out of chiller and puts it back! It could have been lying there all day in a hot shop and when someone buys it it has already started to rot (even though it is still in date) before they get it home!

[Alison]

Good point, Snadger, hadn't thought of that. Something else which annoys me, how hard is it to at least put chilled / frozed projects back in the fridge / freezer even if it's not in the right place!

[Sunbeam]

It must be a c*** supermarket you use my wife is a stock controller at the No.3 supermarket and she reduces the next days date. But why wait to purchase meat at the last moment or is it to just get it cheap
I used to work on the meat counter and was supervisor on the deli and I used to get really p****d off with customers demanding, yes, demanding reductions near the close of business

I didn't buy it last minute to get it cheap - I bought it to eat three days later - ie i expected it to be well within it's use-by date ... which is why I was so angry... as for being a crap supermarket, they certainly can afford the services of Jamie Oliver, so they can't be doing too bad!

As for supporting my local butcher - I do when I am in town, unfortunately the nearest decent butchers, that isn't part of a knock it off cheap & in bulk brigade, is over 10 miles away...my supermarket is 2 miles away..hence they tend to get alot of my business...

[Sunbeam]

I can honestly say I have never really looked at dates on food unless its in the reduced section, going to now though and check that the packaging isn't damaged.
Ideally I would only go to a butcher thats a few miles away because his meat is lovely and the service is wonderful. I'm an infrequent visitor to his shop, but he always says hello and lets me have bones for the dog.
I agree that most supermarket meat is pricey for what you actually get, but my budget can be pretty tight at times and I have to make it stretch as far as I can (hence decision to start growing my own as much as possible).
Perhaps the money saved on supermarket veggies can go towards better meat

Kirsty

I suggest you start checking the dates asap - my local supermarket is your local store too!! thanks for the pm re butchers - I had forgotton that one was there & tend to go over to Saffron Walden when we get the chance!!

[pickledtink]

I think what sometimes happens is a potential buyer picks up chicken/meat from the chiller section and for whatever reason decides they don't want it and put it down on another shelf! Storekeeper comes along, sees item is out of chiller and puts it back! It could have been lying there all day in a hot shop and when someone buys it it has already started to rot (even though it is still in date) before they get it home!

Apparantly Tescos policy is that anything they find has been dumped in that way is not put back on sale but they can have breakdowns in the overall chill 'chain'
I just hate the poor quality of their meat anyway unless it's their 'finest or quality' ranges which costs lots anyway.