Is it legal for shops to sell out of date stock?

[Marbian]

My sister works in Tesco, and they HAVE to get rid of stuff thats like a day near to out of date or somethin... but i guess it's illegal, because im sure businesses would carry on selling them if it was legal to do so.

[tdi]

you can sell stuff that's out of date as long as you clearly indicate that it's out of date. don't go to the bother of complaining to anyone though, everything is in sealed packets and it's not going to kill you if it's two weeks out of date.

people saying Tesco etc HAVE to get rid of stock is purely down to company policy.

[Richie]

It's illegal but who cares most of the time you're getting a bargain. Mistakes happen, if you don't like it request for the food to be removed as it's out of date. If they say no then you can get in contact with health and safety.

People seem to think that food will go off the specific date on the label, you need to remember company's who create these products most definitely set the dates back a good few weeks before the food actually isn't safe to eat. It's just so people can't sue their asses. Most food that is out of date by a week or two is normally fine once stored correctly. Unless it's meats, the dates on meats are pretty much the correct date labelled as it would be easier to define when a piece of meat will actually go off, after all meat does only last a week max (unfrozen).

[Samantha.]

I work in a supermarket, and we're not allowed to sell out of date food to the public (although some occasionally slip through), however they do sell quite a lot of it to staff (put it in the canteen at a very reduced price for us to buy)

This is similar to where I work except we get the stuff for free, some things they try and sell if they have only just out of date by reducing them and putting a sign there so customers know!

[paddy140]

Yes It Is!

[Kronics]

That shop can get closed down selling out of date stock, not a good shop.....

[Inseriousity.]

Tescos and other big brand supermarkets can probably afford to chuck away out of date stock whereas small businesses can't so they're a little more relaxed when selling out of date products. Personally I've eaten lots of 'best before' things that have tasted fine... and they were cheaper woo

[N!ck]

As long as they clearly advertise it as such then it's fine . Also, there's a difference between best before and use by. They're not allowed to sell stuff past it's use by date I don't think.

[Oleh]

The sandwhich i get at dinner is usually reduced due to it being best before the date i buy it

[-:Undertaker:-]

Why are people in this thread wanting to get a business into trouble for something thats more or less harmless, if you dont like it then dont go that shop - or even better, use the pair of eyes you have and look at the dates on food whenever you buy from anywhere.

If it concerns you that much, simply read the date on the packet.