<p>This is my day to post complaining threads. I should preface this story by stressing that I am very zealous about food safety/cleanliness. No matter how many times the bag claims to have washed the spinach, I wash it myself, with vegetable wash, rinse leaf by leaf. I scrub cantaloupes before cutting into them. I wash eggs before using. I pack my own groceries, and put all the frozen foods/cold foods together. If it will take more than 10 mins to get home, I use a special bag that keeps things cold. When I get home, I put the frozen/refrigerated foods away immediately.</p>
<p>Tonight I cut open two packages of Murray’s chicken drumsticks. When I opened the first package, I immediately knew that the chicken was bad - it smelled. The packaging is kind of shrink-wrapping, done at the factory, not regular chicken trays covered with plastic wrap. I checked the “use by” date - 9/11/11 on both packages. I bought them on 9/10 in the late afternoon. Today is 9/12. I called Mrs. Green’s and spoke to the manager. She told me that I should throw away the chicken and bring the packaging back to the store for a store credit. I asked what their policy was about selling chicken so close to the “use by” date. She said that it should not have been sold if it was less than 4 days away. I pointed out that I was now stuck for dinner. I told her I would be in next weekend, but after thinking about this I am very irritated. </p>
<p>First of all, a store credit is not very satisfactory, on principle. They sold rotten chicken - they’re lucky I didn’t call the board of health. Second, I am uneasy about how the chicken was handled. I don’t know that it should have been obviously bad one day after the “use by” date. I know that my handling was impeccable! It smelled so awful that I had to immediately take the garbage out to the garage, then wash everything and disinfect the sink before making anything else. And I’m not happy about having to save the smelly packaging. I put it in 2 ziploc bags in the freezer. I will let them dig around for the price sticker when I go in. </p>
<p>I’m thinking I don’t want to shop there any more. I don’t trust them.</p>
<p>Any store can have a bad package of food. If you still have your receipt, I would throw away the chicken and packaging and use that to get your credit. Don’t judge the store from one bad experience.</p>
<p>Our Mrs. Greens sells outdated stuff all the time in spite of a fairly healthy number of customers. I can’t begin to tell you how many times hubby has had to return stuff. He’s the Mrs. Greens guy in our family.</p>
<p>We have two supermarkets that sell organic meats/chicken, fruits/veggies and non dairy drinks and lots of the stuff I used to shop at Mrs Greens for. We take the occasional trip to Trader Joes as well (20 minutes away)</p>
<p>Our giant Borders just closed and many of us are praying for a Trader Joes. I suppose that may be the end of Mrs Greens though . . .</p>
<p>ETA - there is nothing quite like the smell of bad chicken . . . ugh. I feel for you. :-(</p>
<p>I know nothing about Mrs. Green’s, but I’ve gotten spoiled fish at Trader Joes, and their produce is, in my experience, rarely very fresh. I don’t buy meat, fish or produce there any more.</p>
<p>I always look through the fresh produce and dairy and make sure I buy stuff that is not close to the sell-by expiration date. I always pick the item that has the best date. </p>
<p>I squeeze the bread, too.</p>
<p>Even at that, I think I’m going to find a more local producer to buy my meat from.</p>
<p>Interesting, Pengo. My main store is Trader Joe’s but, as Cardinal Fang said, their produce is not great, and the selection is limited. I don’t buy fish at TJ, either, so I had to also go to Whole Foods or somewhere else to get what TJ is missing. WF is 20 mins away, parking is difficult, and I hate going there, so I was happy to discover a few months ago that Mrs. Green’s has very good organic produce. I started going to Mrs. Green’s every week for produce, chicken, and a few other things. </p>
<p>I remember that the packages I took were the last in the bin. So they’d just been dumping fresher packages on top without rotating them, or checking for food too close to its sell-by date. This is really unacceptable, especially in a store with higher prices.</p>
<p>I think the store responded favorably. And I don’t fault any market for selling a perishable item up until the date that it cannot legally sell it. It’s the consumer’s choice.</p>
<p>I think it’s the consumer’s obligation to check the date on every item before buying it. And even fresh items can go bad if left on the loading dock in the sun, not shelved quickly enough, etc. Food goes through many hands before it hits the shelf. Stuff happens, and not every employee performs perfectly. I think over 40 years of grocery shopping I’ve had bad chicken from every single store at least once. Mrs. Greens handled this properly and I can’t imagine what else OP (who seems a little over the top in her handling of food) wants besides a store credit.</p>
<p>I think the store responded favorably. And I don’t fault any market for selling a perishable item up until the date that it cannot legally sell it. It’s the consumer’s choice.</p>
<p>I agree.
A lot of things- even vitamins have pull by or packaging dates you can check.
Not to say that I don’t make mistakes- but with meat for example, I look at many of them to get the weight & size I want. I also get the freshest possible, unless I am going to be cooking it as soon as I get home & it is on sale.</p>
<p>Stores are not supposed to sell chicken up to the “use by” date. Don’t supermarkets put meat and chicken that is close on sale? A customer should be able to count on at least several days, especially if the packaging is shrink-wrapping that excludes air. I went to the store this evening to get a refund (I was not about to accept a store credit) and I looked at the chicken in the case. The “use by” dates ranged from 9/18 to 9/20 - 5 to 7 days from now. And the suggestion to check every date myself is ridiculous. It would take me twice as long to shop. It’s up to the store employees to remove items that are out of date, especially at a specialty store with higher prices.</p>
<p>Timely post. I bought and ate old coleslaw and a steak at Whole Foods this past weekend. No date on them as it was at the salad bar and the butcher. It was sickening</p>
Really not a big deal to glance at the date as you take an item off the shelf. (Honestly, I thought everybody did this as a matter of course.) I often will note that an item has a date that is too close for my planned use (somehow it’s always the packaged lettuce), and I instead reach to the back of the section to find a package with a later date. It’s just sensible to do this when you’re investing so much money in groceries. Years ago the dating was done in code so only the stores knew what was what–now the consumer has the info needed to make smart decisions.</p>
<p>Agree with MommaJ; I always note the date on “fresh” packages items such as meat, eggs and dairy. Also, I am guessing that legally, ‘sell by’ and ‘use by’ dates are not the same thing. Every dry good sold in the supermarket has a ‘use by’ date, but I don’t think it’s illegal to sell breakfast cereal, bread etc after the ‘use by’ date.</p>
<p>Now I’m agreeing with MommaJ, too. I’m going to be very aware of dates from now on. I"ve never paid attention, because I never buy perishable food more than 2-3 days ahead. Inefficient, but my refrigerator is small.</p>
<p>When preparing food, I take precautions similar to those that the OP takes (and I wash bananas, too), but I must disagree with her conclusions.</p>
<p>The chicken was supposed to be used by 9/11. She tried to use it on 9/12, one day after its expiration date. The whole idea of a “use by” date is that it should be good through that date, but not the next day. The store was generous in offering a store credit for chicken which had an expired “use by” date.</p>
<p>APenny, the chicken was purchased on 9/10, late in the afternoon. The store policy is to pull chicken when the “use by” date is less than 4 days away. A customer should be able to count on several good days for chicken. Ground beef should be used within 24 hours, but this does not apply to other meats and poultry. The store should not have been selling it, as the manager readily acknowledged.</p>
<p>You win the prize - I don’t wash bananas! But maybe I will start now?</p>
<p>Use by/ sell by. This may well be the issue.</p>
<p>No product should go bad before the “sell by” date. Even if you bought a bad product the day of the “sell by” date you have good reason to be distressed. But also notice it does not say "Consume By (insert date here). </p>
<p>Having said that we often buy meats a few days BEFORE the “sell by date” (GOOD SALES!) but only if we know that we will be immediately freezing them. </p>
<p>Investigate the term “Wet Aging”. It is concerns 99% of all meat the average person consumes.</p>
I suppose that may be the end of Mrs Greens though . . .</p>