Is it just me? ---

I had to point out mouldy strawberries in Asda recently. They were in the right position and highly visible. There was also a member of staff stocking up and although I'm sure they would have been spotted, they were well on their way Yuk!!!

I often wish I was a 'secret shopper'. . I have found so many obviously rotting fruit and veg whilst out shopping. Surely the prices they charge nowadays must warrant a person to check over the produce. If they can have someone overseeing the toilets and marking it on a chart why not goods they are trying to sell?

I 'fresh' shop at M&S because I like to see my fruit first, their dates are pretty close to the line but if you do spot out of date stock they say thank you and immediately remove it. They are happy to look for things in the stock room if you specifically want something with a longer date as well.
But I shop online with Ocado for all other stuff, I'm always happy with the sell by dates they deliver, they always have plenty of time remaining on them and they are listed on the receipt in use by order.
As for feeding foxes, don't do it, my BPs did until they realised the foxes were flea ridden, which infested the shed and consequently the house. They were mortified when so called friends of theirs stopped visiting having been bitten.

I mostly shop in Sainsburys and they usually show appreciation for such things and deal with them. I recently found a large quantity of items dated that day and it was after 7pm. Once they had been reduced for a quick sale I bought some for my freezer. It was win - win as otherwise they'd have ended up being thrown out if I hadn't spotted them and pointed it out. I had one of them for tea tonight and it was very nice considering it only cost me 20p plus the veg to go with it!

Write to customer service with exact details and they will send you a lovely letter apologising and a voucher to cover the item if you have purchased it. If you just saw it they will send you one as a thank you for pointing it out to them. Have done both on several occasions.

I told a member of staff yesterday that there was an old pair of men's pants on the pasta shelf. She shrugged, said nothing but did remove them.

dog chub ?

Last fox that wandered through the field behind me was shoot after killing 7 lambs and a friend lost her fresh egg business after a fox got in and killed over 100 chooks in one night. Why on earth people feed foxes i will never know.

I recently rang my local Sainsbury's to let them know that the 400g loaf I had just purchased had been labelled & charged as an 800g. Very pleasant customer service lady said to return & they would refund difference. Since I wouldn't be in for several days she said to bring in label & they would recompense(not worth effort as only 25p). Point of this post is that she didn't enquire which type of loaf & unless I had suggested that she inform bakery others would have been overcharged too (which was why I alerted them). I've met with this attitude in so many supermarkets, they only seem to deal with the problem of the customer in front of them. I have for a long time checked my receipt at all supermarkets before leaving and 25% of the time I end up at C/S.

"overdate food".
Going against the grain, but I think some people are being over-sensitive about this.
First, there's a difference between sell-by and use-by. The first predates the second. You need to use your common sense and look at the type of food involved.
As Violette says, we often see fruit and veg which is going a bit mushy. But it won't do you any harm, maybe ask for a reduction.
OTOH be more careful about meat products, and some frozen foods. Even fish, you can tell by the smell etc if it's edible.
There's so much wastage of food, it's almost criminal.
We have food banks nearby. I once offered them some of our surplus eggs and they had to refuse - Health and Safety rules.
Businesses etc are afraid of being sued if someone claims to have been made ill by something they bought at their store.

Like foxes but daren't feed the ones who pass through our garden in case it enables them to scamper the 8 miles to DD's and eat her chickens.

As someone else has said, I always move the front items and take what I want from the very back of the shelf which is normally well within date ! What annoys me is when I buy those containers of raspberries and strawberries with a long sell by date only to find the bottom ones in the boxes are often a mouldy mush ! I always hold them up and turn the over in the shop checking for mouldy ones but don't always see them ,,,have to remove them immediately I get home, from the plastic packaging and store them elsewhere so the rest don't go mouldy !!! I only buy something with 'today's ' use by date if I am going to eat it or cook it immediately I get home !

It is surprising how many shops try to get away with it ...but I suppose with so many thousands of items to check it sometimes slips past the assistants and so you do need to be aware ...some shops have special arrangements for food banks to collect sell by or use by items, which is an excellent idea !

I noticed a tray of (expensive) dragon fruit in Sainsbury's, with date labels showing that they were on their use by date, though they looked perfectly ok. I pointed them out to a staff member, hoping they would reduce them ;-)

I checked later & there was an identical tray of full price dragon fruit without any date labels on at all...

Coincidence? H'mm. I always thought of Sainsbury's as being a reputable shop. But they were still there the next day, unreduced, and with no date labels.

I have to say it does not fill you with confidence if shop staff feel quite so laid back about it! luckily there are few out beaks of serious illness due to OOD yougurt.

When my grandma made yogurt that fermented in the airing cupboard it never had a sell by date

I'd have told a manager about the out of date item and the shrug from the member of staff. I don't think Waitrose would be impressed with "the attitude".

out of date yogurt is regularly found on my fridge

If you get out of date food in your delivery from any supermarket, please email customer services and report it. They are usually happy to refund the price if you give them a few details. My daughter and i once cleared a shelf in Asda of out of date yogurt. We took it to the customer services desk in store. They were very apologetic.

I am always noticing staff at our local supermarkets (Sainsbury & Waitrose) going round zapping items to check for out of date stuff. I guess we are all human and we all, whether a shop employee of customer, need to be vigilant re use by dates. I have never noticed out of date stuff myself. The dog meat sounds foul but if it was punctured ..then those things happen!
A quiet word seems the best strategy. I find people who make a big fuss when complaining are a bit full of self importance!

Re foxes: I used to live in SW London where, I agree, they were an absolute menace. We had a fox family under the shed who all regularly sunbathed in the garden..though they lived peacefully with our cats. They look lovely but smell disgusting!

I think it is a big mistake to feed them. They do help to keep rats/squirrels down in towns but they get into bins, make a mess and can get quite bold if they are fed.

Since living in a less urban area I rarely see them at all!

Sorry, he said there WAS a problem! Not peoblme!

We were in a cafe rently (on holiday) and I naughtily had a small lemon tart. I enjoyed it till i found a long hair in it which quite put me off. DH took it back to the counter and showed them and the girl actually said 'no problem'! He said there was a peoblme and th manager was called and the upshot was.... we werent charged for it! No apology. We had to pay for everything else.

I have told my DH that is he HAS to go into Morrison's to check the dates of anything he buys as it is often on the sell by date or a day over when he buys it. I don't shop there myself very if I can avoid it & have never had this problem in Sainsburys ( or Waitrose TBH although I note someone else has)

Eewe told staff in Waitrose that the lift that services their store was absolutely disgusting. Later whilst shopping a member of staff sought us out to thank us for pouting it out and to reassure us that it was now clean and sparkling. And it was....

We get 2 foxes around here, especially on bin day. Because the bins are put out at night it must seem like a feast for them. They can be vicious though, and sometimes you read about them going in to houses so be careful. My brother had all his prize breed chickens killed by a fox.

If someone reported them for having food past the sell by date or rotting on the counter they would soon sort it out. If someone keeps quiet about it then expect it to continue.

I shop online, and if anything is out of date (rare) or of bad quality, I will complain. Tesco have always been extremely apologetic, responding almost immediately, issuing a refund and sometimes a voucher. They email AND phone, and always say they will take it up with the store. Not sure if they actually do that! I do put notes to the pickers sometimes, e.g. please choose decent size, un-slashed baking potatoes instead of last week's blackened conkers...."