Risks and dangers of ignoring shelf life indicators on product labels

Cape Town - With supermarket costs rising, customers are advised to double-check the expiry date of any items they buy at convenience stores, as poor stock rotation by merchants has become increasingly common.

This comes after the Consumer Goods & Services Ombud (CGSO) revealed that among the 10 types of complaints they received, 267 customers had complained about several issues they experienced with goods which became defective within six months of purchase this year.

Natasha van Noordwyk recounted her experience, and said that she was disgusted by the lack of concern the business owner had shown when she raised concerns about the mouldy item she had purchased at the shop.

“I bought two pies at a convenience store around the corner from where I lived,” she said. “When I got to work, I saw that the one pie was completely blue-green on top, and knew it was mouldy and old. So what I did was, instead of wasting the pie and my money, I went back to them to inform them that the pie was bad and mouldy. I asked if I could get another one because I know a lot of these corner shops don't like to give your money back, they just tell you to take another one.

“I was sickened by the fact that they don't care about the health of their customers, because if that blue mould was penicillin, and it wasn't obvious, and someone allergic to penicillin ate that pie like that, they would have gotten sick, and they don't seem to understand this,” said Van Noordwyk.

Food consultant Nigel Sunley said that the outdated goods are largely caused by poor stock rotation by the retailers, and that the challenge lay in differentiating between three categories of foods.

“The first category is foods that are still safe to consume after their expiry date, but may not be of the quality they were before the expiry date e.g. taste or appearance is not as good. These could be sold provided the purchaser is fully aware that they are past their expiry dates, which are normally stated as ‘Best before’ on the label. They will typically be non-perishable foods (e.g. dry products) that do not require refrigeration or other special storage conditions, but may lose flavour and/or taste stale after their expiry dates.

“The second category is foods that are definitely unsafe once their expiry date has been passed. These are typically perishable foods that normally require refrigeration, and will potentially have unacceptable levels of micro organisms if they are consumed after their expiry dates. These are normally stated as ‘Use by DDMMYYYY’ on the label. However they sometimes also use the ‘Best before’ statement. This can be very confusing and would be potentially dangerous if they were sold after their expiry date. Additionally, for the third category, a number of retailers are starting to remove expiry dates from pre-packed, fresh produce as these often result in significant food waste when the expiry date has been exceeded and the product is unnecessarily regarded as unsuitable for consumption. In most cases, the consumer should be able to judge for themselves if the product is acceptable,” said Sunley

CGSO media liaison officer Ouma Ramaru said that with complaints they received about expired goods, complainants alleged that those goods affected their health, and of the closed cases, they were either resolved fully with a full refund for the goods purchased, partially upheld, or not upheld.

“We can only suggest that consumers check the dates on goods before buying/consuming them, and if they do accidentally buy expired goods, those should be returned to the supplier in question for a full refund. If consumers pick up trends where certain convenience stores are regularly selling expired goods, this should be reported to the NCC for investigation,” said Ramaru.

With that being said, Sunley added that it should be noted that it is not illegal to sell products after their expiry dates, but it is illegal to alter the stated expiry dates on a label.

“There are various existing outlets where foods that have passed their expiry dates are sold and are clearly stated as such. I think this is a good idea, but this should be restricted to designated retail outlets where the customer clearly understands that the products concerned are beyond their expiry dates. It should not be general practice in the retail trade.

"Retailers have a major role to play by providing the necessary guidance to consumers on products. We need to find the balance between ensuring safe food and reducing food waste,” said Sunley.