Warning to eat, drink and be wary
Report details complaints from shoppers about food purchases
SHOPPERS are being warned to “eat, drink and be wary” over the festive period with a report highlighting the most common problems with the food and drink on sale in supermarkets and stores.
Citizen’s Advice Scotland (CAS) has analysed almost 1,000 calls to its helpline from customers reporting issues with items they have bought or other food and drinkrelated concerns.
It found more than one in 10 people reported items being sold past their sell by date, while unclear pricing and poor quality produce also feature prominently among the most common complaints.
The advice service is advising people to be aware of food-related scams, including the increasingly common tactic of conmen selling poor-quality fish door to door and using high-pressure tactics hook people in.
CAS Consumer spokesman Fraser Sutherland said: “As consumers there are few things more important than the food that we eat, and give our children to eat.
“We should be able to expect the best possible quality and service from anyone who sells us food and drink.
“Yet the cases we report today show that many Scots are not getting that basic service, and too many traders are falling short.”
The CAS report said it received more than 100 complaints about food being sold past its sell-by date between August 2015 and December 2016.
In one case a consumer from Glasgow bought meat from a local supermarket which was later revealed to be five days out of date, while in another a man in Inverclyde fell ill after drinking beer which had gone bad.
Counterfeit alcohol being sold was also reported on 30 occasions, while further problems encountered by consumers included finding foreign objects in their food.
More than 90 people called reporting this issue, including one man in Dumfries and Galloway who found a dead snail in a bag of frozen vegetables, and a woman from Edinburgh who cut herself on a piece of plastic left in a ready meal.
Door-to-door scams involving fish were reported 15 times, all involving sales of poor quality catch for inflated prices. One CAS client, who was said to be vulnerable, was conned into handing over a cheque for £500 for inedible fish. The situation was only resolved when the client’s family managed to have the cheque cancelled.
Another consumer, from Edinburgh, was pressurised into buying a bulk sale of seafood for £90, which was later revealed to be bad.
Labelling issues were also highlighted, with misleading instructions for vegetarians and vegans reported to CAS along with incorrect domain of origin information.
Mr Sutherland said: “This weekend seemed like a good time of year to highlight that, and to remind people to stand up for their rights and not to settle for bad quality or unfair trading.”
He said anyone who had bought goods over Christmas that were not up to scratch should stand up for their rights, adding: “You don’t have to accept that. Complain to the trader, and be ready to report them.”