Out-of-date food left on the shelves

Supermarkets are displaying food on their shelves that is past its sell-by date, a snapshot Evening Standard survey has found.

We visited eight supermarkets in different parts of London on two days this week.

All but one were selling goods ranging from sausages to salads that should have been withdrawn because they were out of date. The findings follow Tesco's £25,000 fine for stocking old and mouldy food in its flagship store in New Malden.

The company admitted a range of food safety breaches, including allowing mice and rats to infest areas where food was stored. In our survey we found Tesco's stores in Kennington and Old Kent Road stocking food past their use by or display by dates.

In the worst example, we were able to buy a pack of cooked beetroot that should have been eaten on Saturday.

The 24-hour Tesco in Kensington was selling salads with tuna and chicken that were a day out of date. Sainsbury's in Battersea-also stocked old food that we were able to buy, including skimmed milk that should not have been on display beyond Friday.

In Kilburn, Safeway, the supermarket chain now owned by rival William Morrison, was selling lemons that had turned brown and should have been sold last Saturday, as well as vegetables that were out of date. Safeway was the most careful in our survey. Staff in the Walworth Road branch were removing old items from the shelf during late afternoon, although many items may already have been bought by shoppers earlier in the day.

All supermarkets had in-date versions of the products pushed further back on the shelf, often out of reach for older shoppers.

Supermarkets are supposed to have rigorous systems to stop outofdate food staying on display. However, many shoppers who contacted the Evening Standard said they had been sold food that should have been disposed of.

Mark Humphries, 24, said he bought two packs of Ski smooth yoghurts at his Tesco store in Sutton on Saturday. When he got home he noticed they should have been consumed five days earlier.

"The packaging looks fine but we haven't dared try what's inside. We think it might smell a bit off. It might be just a one off but we will be on our guard from now on."

A BBC TV investigation last week found widespread confusion among shoppers about the significance of different phrases used on packaging such as "sell by", "use by" and "display until".

Tesco said: "Our daily procedures and checks are of the highest standards in the industry.

"An average store has around 40,000 lines on its shelves at any one time.

"Staff in store check products every day to ensure out-of-date items are removed. Cases of out- of- date products being sold to customers remain very rare."