This afternoon I took a quick trip to our local grocery store. We live in a small town so the grocery store isn’t huge but I really can’t complain too much about their inventory. It’s a bit more expensive than a big chain store and they don’t have everything known to man, but they have enough.
Now I admit when I shop I am a bit of a freak.
Ok, I admit in general, I am a bit of a freak, but I am especially freaky about expiration dates on my food. I will dig through an entire section to find the item with the expiration date farthest in the future.
So anyhow, I had a coupon for a FREE package of Oscar Meyer Beef Hot Dogs. Who doesn’t want FREE hot dogs? So I head over to that aisle first and as usual it is like 20 degrees there. Abby and I both shiver as we walk down it. I find the Oscar Meyer Hot Dog, grab a pack and then check the expiration date. June 200S. Seriously, I could not make out that last number. In any case, even if it was June 2009, that bugged me so I hunted around for a different package. I finally found one dated August 2009. That I could live with. I know hot dogs are like Twinkies and could probably withstand a nuclear blast, but still I like the expiration date to be IN THE FUTURE.
We did some other shopping, checked for the cool red sale tags they sometimes have with great deals and then we came across the Mexican food aisle. Abby loved her quesedilla from Taco Bell the other day so I thought I would make them for dinner, but before I bought fresh fixins’ I checked out the frozen ones.
As an aside, a woman who had apparently forgotten her glasses asked me if I could locate the expiration date on a package of tortillas. Ah yes, people recognize a professional when they see one. No luck though. It didn’t have one.
I found a product in the freezer that was a Tyson Chicken Enchilada Kit with a sour cream sauce that just looked and sounded wonderful so I grabbed it and handed it to Abby. Oops, forgot to check the date, so I took it back from her, turned it around, and almost fell over.
The date read July 26, 2006. I looked again thinking I must have misread the 9 as a 6. Nope. I checked the others. ALL OF THEM HAD THE SAME FREAKING 3 YEAR OLD EXPIRATION DATE!
By now I’m ready to abandon my cart altogether, run shrieking from the store and go bathe both Abby and I in antibacterial soap. And brush my teeth.
But I don’t.
I put the Tyson bag kit in my cart (far, far away from my other food – yes I moved some) and work my way to the register. I had totally forgotten about the tortilla lady but in hindsight I should have told her to RUN FOR YOUR LIFE LADY! ABANDON THE TORTILLAS AND RUN! I didn’t see her again though.
At the register I gave the bag to the kid behind the counter, CLEARLY told him I didn’t want it and that it was a little bit expired. He looked at it and said “2006, no way!” He then turned and showed it to another cashier (weird that they had so many young male cashiers) and one of them told someone to pull the rest of them off the shelf.
I’m still creeped out about it.
I wonder if I should have done more to alert them. What if those teenagers didn’t follow through and take them off the shelf? What’s to say it won’t happen again? Should I shop there anymore?
Why does it feel like things are crawling on me?
About Kim
I’m not picky, I’m anal retentive !
Expiration Dates are a guide. Not a law – except that they have to be placed on certain items.
If your in doubt about a product – tell management (not a clerk) and DO NOT buy it !
Last night I picked up two packs of Oscar Meyer lunch meat. When I put them away, I noticed both pkgs. were swollen ? I checked the expiration date, Feb 25th, 2009. I was taught never to eat anything from a swollen pkg. The date is fine, but the meat may have been left in direct sunlight for a day in shipping. A swollen pkg is a sign of out gasing from spoilage.
Yep . . . headed back to Wal-mart to return the item.
In my state OH, food can be sold after the expiration date, except baby items and medicine I think? I am not that picky about expiration dates, if it is really cheap or I can get it free with a coupon and I am going to use it right away. Of course 2006 is a bit of a stretch! Even I would not buy that!
Eeeewwwwww. I recently returned a bag of tortilla chips because they were expired by a month. The woman behind the counter looked at me like I had horns. Is it really unusual to want to purchase fresh food?
Lately I can’t seem to take the item in front on the shelf. For whatever reason, I always grab for the 2nd one, and then check the date.
Sigh. One more thing to be neurotic about!