Hema Fresh dates are not as fresh as they seem

ALREADY entangled in a label swapping scandal, Hema Fresh has come under fire again as a customer claimed coconut milk she bought from an outlet in the Pudong New Area was more than two months out of date.

The Pudong New Area Market Supervision and Management Bureau said yesterday that it had started investigation into the Jinqiao outlet of Hema Fresh.

The woman surnamed Hu bought two cans of Real Thai coconut milk priced 19 yuan (US$3) at the outlet on December 1. The production date was April 28, 2017, and the expiry date was September 28 this year.

“I was very surprised as it had expired two months ago,” said Hu, who posted photos on Weibo showing the expiry date and reported the incident to authorities.

Hema apologized to the customer via its Weibo account and said the coconut milk was among some stolen products retrieved on November 27. It said the product was put back on shelves by mistake.

The company will pay 10 times the value of the coconut milk to the customer in compensation, but Hu said she was not satisfied with the response and demanded further explanation.

She is awaiting the results of the investigation.

The general manager of Hema Fresh Shanghai was sacked late last month after an employee was found replacing old labels on food with new ones.