Poisoning risk from expired food

A FOOD expert has warned consumers of the dangers of eating expired foods that appear on shop shelves.

This comes after a number of people sent complaints to The Herald and Weekend Post of goods past their expiry dates stocked on shelves at various Pick n Pay stores.

Weekend Post reported that the Walmer Park Shopping Centre store had a Salami Sticks pack with a July 2 sell-by date.

And at the William Moffett Hypermarket, a plain flavour strip had a sell-by date of July 12 and was not displayed in a refrigerated section, though the product says it must be kept refrigerated.

NMMU head of dietetics professor Annelie Gresse said the dates were to inform consumers about the freshness of the food.

“Perishables get an expiry date and that means that the freshness of the product will not be acceptable thereafter,” Gresse said.

“It is preceded by a sell-by date and therefore the expiry date is the last day on which the product would be fresh.”

Perishables like chicken, yoghurt and milk could grow unwanted bacteria after the expiry date, which could cause food poisoning, she said.

“If consumers are more assertive and insist on fresh products, the suppliers will be forced to provide fresher ones,” she said.

Since the weekend report, more people have complained.

Candace Wasserman, 33, of Greenshields Park, mentioned a yoghurt with a July 15 best-before date on the shelves of Pick n Pay Walmer Park on Sunday.

“Shouldn’t someone be monitoring this?” she said.

A reporter visited three Pick n Pay stores on Monday and found Mielie-Kip chicken viennas with a July 9 use-by date in a refrigerated section at the Baywest Mall outlet.

Both the Pick n Pay stores at Walmer Park and Heugh Road had Crickley strawberry yoghurt with best-before dates of July 15.

Pick n Pay Eastern Cape general manager Ian Hughes said although there were in-store protocols to check shelves daily, the management would be rechecking the stores in the region.