A simple answer Maybe. If your supermarket has added their own price label that could be a problem when you factor in the possibility of human error.

Foster Farm Fresh chicken comes with a label from Foster Farms that is pre-priced and dated.

On July 4th 2003 I purchased Foster Farms chicken from a Stater Brothers Market in Southern California. The store label had an expiration date of 07 14 03 but when this label was pulled back the correct date from Foster Farms was exposed and that was 07 06 03.

Is this done on purpose?

I don't think so. I think it's more a case of negligence, unfortunately this does not help you the consumer as you lay in a hospital bed or worse.

I called the corporate headquarters of Stater Brothers in Colton California and meat department spokesperson Bob Dodd stated "Stater Brothers policy is not to extend the code date of any product beyond the original sell by date." Mr. Dodd further stated that all employees are instructed and trained in this policy and that they sign a safety form acknowledging that they understand the policy and will adhere to it. The problem that was uncovered by me at one of their stores had to be an employee error and the appropriate measures would be taken to insure that it would not happen in the future". Mr. Dodd did state" Their scales are a little dated and Stater Brothers was in the process of replacing all of the scales chain wide with state of the art Hobart scales to ensure that something like this would not happen in the future".

When I spoke with Peggy Cole at Foster Farms she stated "It's not our Policy to comment on one of our customers".

I asked several supermarket employees how this could happen and was told. One stated "The employee was probably too lazy to do it right" another stated that the scale is programmed to add seven days to a new label and has to be manually overridden and the worker most likely forgot".

I also called Vons a division of Safeway and Ralph's a division of Kroger to find out how they handle re-packaging and / or re-pricing. Vons did not return my call.

Ralph's called right back and their spokesperson Terry O'Neil stated " Ralph's and Food for Less Prohibit re-dating of any product Meat, Seafood or Poultry of any kind past the original sell by date. If a product has to be repackaged, rewrapped or re-priced due to blood, damaged product package, replacing product padding or to change the price to the current sale or market price it must include the original sell by date. Under no circumstances is this date to be changed."

Tim's comments:

Although I'm not happy with Foster Farms "no comment" I will continue to use their products, as I believe they are one of the safest available on the market today. However I will continue to only purchase chicken with a factory price sticker and of course with the longest sell by date available, usually 7 to 10 days.

Stater Brothers Markets - I have shopped at the Stater Brothers chain since 1990 and will continue to do so. I find them to be very responsive to consumer needs. I have also done several pricing surveys comparing them to Albertsons, Ralph's, Vons and Kmart and they came out the low price winner every time. They also don't play games with club cards!

In doing this story several people have asked why this is a big deal if the chicken is out of date it will smell bad and you can return it or throw it away. What these people don't realize is that a persons smell diminishes with age and also some antibiotics can cause problems with smell at any age.

Tim

What's in your Chicken?

What to Do If You Have a Problem with Food Products

Can Your Kitchen Pass the Food Safety Test?

Rebecca's Bad Chicken!

Back to Top