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My noodles were past their best!

By Mike Pyle
April 03, 2009

A customer bought a snack from Tesco just hours after reading about the supermarket’s £30k fine for stocking out-of-date food – only to find his snack was past its best-before date.

Robin Carter read about Tesco being slapped with a £30k fine for selling food up to 26 past its use-by date in The Standard on Sunday.

Later that day he visited the Warfield store in Jigs Lane North and bought a pack of four Pot Noodles.

When he got them home he found they were past their best before date by almost two months.

Robin, 26, of Leaves Green in Crown Wood, said: “I rarely look at the dates on things like that but after reading about them getting in trouble I looked out of curiosity and saw the best-before date was January.

“You don’t expect dried food to be out of date when you buy it.”

Most dried foods have a best-before date on them rather than a use-by date – and it is not illegal to sell food after it has passed its best-before date.

Tesco was fined £31,500 by Maidenhead magistrates last week after Bracknell Forest Council food inspectors found products including cheese and salmon to be past its use-by date in the stores in Warfield and in The Meadows, Sandhurst.

A Tesco spokesman said: “The difference here is that it’s a best-before date and not a use by date, so it’s not illegal.

"But it’s still very much against our policy.

“We will apologise to the customer and offer him a full refund.”

Robin, a joiner, shops in Tesco every Sunday. He added: “I’ve bought out-of-date food there before.

“I prefer Sainsbury’s but Tesco is convenient for my sister-in-law so I’ll probably carry on going there.”

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Well, that's what's passes for news round here!

Frank Chicken, Bracknell,
12/04/2009 at 09:58

Everything consumable, or potentially consumable, must have a best before date. Whether the thing will harm you if outside that date is another question. Milk and fish probably would if more sufficiently past the date. Dried pot noodle might not, but the shop shouldn't sell it as the date given has been applied up to the point where the maker says, if storage guidelines are followed, it should be safe to eat. After that date, it *might* not be and should be destroyed if not already sold.

I've seen BBE dates on a cactus plant before, and a bottle of vintage beer I have states clearly that although the BBE date is a legal requirement, the beer will continue to improve past this date, although consumption of it past the BBE date is entirely the responsibility of the drinker.

NB - For legal reasons I should probably state the following: I am not recommending eating anything past it's BBE or BB date in my comments above. Make your own choices but don't sue if you didn't follow advice and it turns out to be the wrong choice. :)