Expiry dates

[ASuperGav]

What do I do if a shop sells me a food product i.e.cider nearly a year past its sell-by date and it makes me violently ill? I've never had problems before and it was only one can I drank. Only found out on AnswerBank what the serial no.s on the base of the can mean and if correct I drank cider nearly a year old which made me ill.

ASuperGav Sun 25/05/08 15:17

[figure]

Do you still have the receipt and empty cider bottle? If not then there's no proof you bought it from the store that sold it to you.

Let this experience be a valuable lesson to you. Always check the expiration date on things that have a tendency to spoil after a period, especially food stuff.

[bizzylizzy]

You could go back to the shop and check the rest of their stock. In which case I would buy another bottle as proof and then report the shop to trading standards. If you simply tell the shop, they'll remove the bottles but may still go on selling other items past their sell by date. The other option you have is to phone trading standards who may well send someone 'round to the shop to check on their stock. Hope you feel better now.

[ASuperGav]

Dear BizzyLizzy,
Thanks for being an angel providing me with support. I was on AnswerBank all evening last night and you wouldn't believe some of the replies. There was one helpful chap who decoded the serial numbers on the base of the can (not bottles):-L7177/2 18:26 in the Food and Drink section of Answer Bank, but the others were no- brainers blaming me for buying an out of date drink in the first place, as if I could decipher the code! Others said even if the cider was nearly a year old, it didn't mean the drink was "off" etc. x Gav

[alan30]

The code that was deciphered in Food and Drink was the manufacturing date. Canned alcoholic drinks, particulalry high alcohol content ones, can have sell by or use by dates well in excess of a year after the manufacturing date. The code is for the manufacture to track stock and identify production run problems; there is no need for the consumer to understand the code. I think the brand owner is Matthew Clark Cider who may be able to tell you more about the code and the use by date.

Matthew Clark
Whitchurch Lane
Bristol
United Kingdom
BS14 0JZ

Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: 01275 836 726