Best before dates: How supermarkets tamper with your food (CBC Marketplace)

This is a market game. Is this label lying to you? I didn't know that was the question. We have the answers. Close the front door. Juicy secrets behind the counter. You would take the browned meat and turn it red. Yes, the

food

can be seen. well, but the facts will make you sick fecal indicator fecal indicator, but it's like they were being told from the top down to bypass the expiration date and take a walk in the market Time Machine, the fondue mix he bought had more than three years this is

your

market are you ready to play the boudin game we are about to share five secrets you need to know about expiration

dates

those little labels you see on

food

packages first question what is the expiration date the date on that you're supposed to know the outfit, I think it usually refers to a state or even a state that's legally on the shelf.

The expiration date would probably be something about how you shouldn't eat on the streets of Toronto afterwards. Ash is hearing a lot of guesswork, so I'm going to get some information on foods around that time from microbiologist Keith Warner. I actually found this package of crackers in the back of my cupboard and it has an expiration date of April 2014, so over a year ago, would they still be safe to eat? so let's take a look, you'll probably break a two for two with them, but they're perfectly safe, so I can do the taste test, here we go, oh this smells, it tastes terrible, it's definitely a pass especially for can be perfectly safe, it's not exactly tasty and that's why people put these

best

before

dates

.

He says that for most foods the

best

before dates will tell you if it is still fresh. Preferential consumption is just a general message. He says much after this date. I cannot guarantee the quality of the product. What types of foods should we avoid once they have passed their expiration date? The most important are cold meats, soft cheeses and raw meat, because what they can do is have the potential to grow. pathogens that we can't see, we can't smell and the food becomes dangerous, but other products are quite safe, like bread for example, yes, it will taste a little more stale, but it won't be too dangerous, other things, like the dry pasta.

Products like cookies' expiration dates can be important, so how much can you trust them? A store employee had a lot to say and agrees to tell everything if we protect her identity. This former bakery employee handled food for years. What would happen to the food in the bakery? that was past its sell by date wasn't selling we would cut the cake in half like this and then each half would package itself and each of the halves would have a new sell by date on how long could those sit because they actually had stickers on them? for about two more weeks and then what would happen after a couple of weeks if it still hadn't sold?

We would actually replace that sticker with a new one, so that's two extra weeks on top of the two weeks on top of the weeks she had spent in the display case, she worked at an independent grocery store in Ontario before Loblaws bought it. She says handling baked goods in her store is common practice with fruit pies in the display case. we'd take them and scrape off the fruit as it got older or looked less desirable or moldy, he'd scrape it off, mind you, then we'd just top it with new fruit and re-glaze it and then put it on.

Back in the display case until this fruit didn't look very good anymore, the boss said it was okay, the boss didn't just say it was okay, this is what they told us to do and it wasn't just fruit tarts, says our fountain. she removed the fruit and went back to covering some cakes; It sounds gross, but could it be dangerous? We bought some cakes and fruit tarts for laboratory testing. She brought them some food products to check, but to our surprise, when we opened the box, let's check. this cake is a fruitcake Wow look at that sacred cow this is not past its prime before it comes out it's already moldy it's very already this is good this is Wow I can't believe how much mold it has yes hmm, has this cake been? manipulated the store said it was not past its sell-by date, we asked Warriner to help us simulate what our informant tells us about what happens to cakes and pies two weeks after their sell-by date on the first day of our test, that moldy cake is surprisingly still safe to eat, but almost two weeks later, so it's yeast and moles and you might see these orange ones here they look pretty, right?

Yes, if you ingest that toxin, which can happen, well, nothing will happen to you instantly, but over time it can lead to things like cancer, which is why we rarely have these expiration dates to prevent these kinds of things from happening. . And he says the longer these toxins remain in foods past their expiration dates, the greater the potential growth and risk, and this is more to come. in the form of, we will call an input bacteria that is a fecal indicator a fecal indicator in the torch in the box that requires a lot of handling when these stems are produced a third degree of Cody farms and other bacteria that were found many can be introduced Lurking on the surface of that torch I could see microbes beneath the fruit, it was ready, wasn't it the number?

I was surprised as a microbiologist that even these microscopes grow so high in a cave, quite disturbing almost two weeks ago. its expiration date fruit tarts are loaded with toxins: this is a specialist, it is a mold that produces a mica toxin that can be very fatal over a long period of time. Our source says he didn't know there could be potential risks, but why? Did she do it when you were working there? She's part of

your

job and you're told to do it and you're not really in a place in your life where you can take a stand or say anything about it, so what's her advice?

For you, I would personally avoid purchasing any cake, tart or bakery product that is not in its original form if it has been cut in half or into smaller pieces. There's probably a reason for him to return to the streets. What do you think? A tip from These former workers should buy food at the bakery in its original form. No, it's advice I should start sharing with many of my family and friends. It's good information. Yes, it's definitely something I can use in the future. Loblaws won. He doesn't appear on camera, but after learning of our findings, they tell us they've strengthened their baking policies at all of their stores.

We wondered if what we heard was unique to the baking department, so we designed a national online ad and aleshia. How's it going? I'm just reviewing some of our results. We heard from grocery workers who have worked at large and small retailers from coast to coast in the meat and deli bakery departments. I've witnessed expired seafood being turned into soup mix, oh that's disgusting, yes, all over the country they share disturbing secrets of what goes on behind the counter, oh look at that one, we would unpack cakes, pastries, cookies and the we would repackage it as a single serving dessert, that's not good, check this one out, meat. it was rewrapped better before the date was changed person after person writes about changing eggs with better price, that's shocking, so while we were researching this story, it turns out that one of our own interns at the market used to work in a store of groceries, so I'm I'll meet him and listen to what he has to say.

Hair used to work in the industry. What did you do with me? He's past his prime before daylight. He is preparing to give us a demonstration. Something like this. They would soak him in blood. just double it a little bit we've stimulated a little bit of blood here yeah so just double it like this and then as you can see it looks a lot redder that's what you do you would take the brown meat and make it red yeah so we would turn red and then if we do it again, we do it as many times as possible, we just keep flipping it when the third question comes, what's going on in the meat department? sticker that came with a new best before date I extended the shelf life and you won't look at ground beef the same when you hear this if it's really bad if so we'd dabble in some blood and throw it into the meat grinder with some more red meat and then all together it would make it look red and then we put it back on the shelf and people would buy this yes, it sounds gimmicky all the time, but can it be risky for food safety expert Keith Warner help?

We recreate what we have heard is happening with meat. We mix meat that is four days past its sell-by date with new. How does it smell? I'll let you do the honors. Okay, let's do it right. Switch it on. What is this new mix like? Look, it's brand new, it likes it dressed up, yeah, that looks good, but could it be bad for you? We sent it to taste the good, the bad and the rotten, we get to the core and a better before a flashback, it didn't look good and it didn't taste good our research on coffee cups made your pot boil find out what Tim Hortons and Starbucks staff have to say this is your ready market is a flashback to a funky fondue time bomb from 1976 a few weeks ago mrs.

Rita Clifford of Sudbury Ontario served cheese fondue to her husband and her guests. The fondue was downright horrible, it didn't look good and it didn't taste good. This is Clifford, she complained to the manufacturer and they got the money back from her. Another satisfied consumer. The end of the story is not entirely Mrs. Joan. Clifford also received some interesting information: the fondue mix she bought was more than three years old. The salon company hasn't been making fondue mixes for almost four years and the ideal shelf life of the mix would have been less than a year, so we called the Toronto office next. of the TJ Lipton company, as they are in charge of marketing Blanche's products and the director of the Lipton branch, and you, all about the lady.

Clifford's failed fondue party, but she didn't believe it could happen again and she, in fact, jokingly commented, "I bet you $1,000 you couldn't find another pack of that stuff." Well, we went to forestry stores in Toronto and three out of four had the mix with Loblaws at Dominion and we figured the branch manager owes us about three thousand dollars, that was then, this is now and we're finding out that some forestry stores Edibles are still playing when it comes to expiration dates, would you eat this past? the expiration date without fruit what we are going to show you below could change the way you surprise.

Food safety expert Keith Warner is helping us test some foods that insiders tell us are being manipulated to extend their shelf life, like grinding meat that's four days past its sell-by date with fresh disgust. I'm curious how it was tested, so what we found was that the meat was actually loaded with bacteria after just one day it was loaded with this type of bacteria called bacteria come in, look and what they do is this. that these can break down meat proteins to produce something called biogenic amines, which are toxic chemicals that can cause asthma, mood swings, all kinds of people who bought from me wouldn't know it was spoiled because it mixed with my attractive self.

It was exactly a hoax at its worst, isn't it unethical? In this case, it's okay to go beyond ethics. Isn't it just about security and stuff like that? Hair has experience working on grocery bills. Others we heard say, mixing old things. Meat with new happened all the time, who told you to do this? So the butcher and my supervisor or a lot of times he would bring it to me, he would bring it like a pile of similar meats that were brown, beat them up. about it be like sahara, unwrap them and engage with them, put them back on the shelves, so what advice do you wish you had given to your customers?

Don't buy from the front of the shelves, reach behind them, grab these things behind those things. It's usually a little newer on the street we tell people about all that meat manipulation it's disgusting oh my god look that's his bike do you buy marinated meats? Do I like marinated fish? Do you consider it fresh? Yes, I always think it's cooler. You like what they prepared in the store that day Look, I trust that the company may not be fresh, it is not good, so can you trust the marinated meat? We heard it from other insiders, including this Ontario grocery store manager.

He says there's a secret reason some stores are adding sauces. and spices for the meat, we have some marinated thighs here, why are marinated things marinated if it is going off or off, they will marinate it to hide the smell and if there are stainsdark or whatever to mask that? then put it up for sale and the stuff that is marinated actually sells for more, you charge more for not having stuff that is past its sell by date, yes they are known as value added so because you it adds something, it increases the price, so in our store things like steaks, strip steaks, they were wearing out, they were expired, they were essentially covered in some kind of barbecue marinade or cracked pepper, something with a really strong smell to hide the rotten smell, what was the reason given for doing this?

It's about profits and money and consumer health isn't really a concern, it's about how much money I can make with almost ten years of experience in the business. These experts received advice for the next time they go out to buy meat. I would not do it. buy pre-marinated meat or pre-seasoned meat at grocery stores because you don't know what happened to it. It could be fresh but it could also be an expired product. Which tends to happen according to some insiders. Marinated necessities are often marinated in kind. to disguise the color hide the disgusting smell it's a fraud oh no I always thought I would be the freshman yes first uh huh you need to be honest with your consumer you want action we want answers Canadians want to be able to trust when they go to the grocery store that they are buying food that are safe for them get our newsletter your cheat sheet for the news you need to eat or not to eat you don't want to miss this ready to participate we're getting the products better sooner Insiders from coast to coast tell us they're altering their policies food store and they are being ignored.

Final question: When you see mold on food, can you cut it up and eat the rest? I think, as far as I know, they can't be cut. I'm still your microbiologist Keith Warner says it's not as simple as you might think if you see mold growing on a product, it's safe to eat on things like bread, it's safe, but if you think about a soft cheese, if you think about jam, if think even of a strawberry and you see these moles growing, they could potentially reduce these toxins spreading, but this former supermarket manager says old fruits and vegetables sometimes get a second life whenever you needed to make a fruit tray, you could go out into the street. counter and see what's out there maybe something is starting to spin and you would bring it back and cut off the part that's bad and then cut off the rest that looks good and then put it on a fruit tray.

Did you really see that happen? Yes, I did the same thing with some vegetables, so it happens quite often. What if I told you that hard food products like orange cauliflower or broccoli have mold? It's okay to eat them, but when we talk about soft foods, don't even take a chance, no, I didn't know, I had cut the strong mold from strawberries and Fennyman before, so I didn't realize that closing the front door fools people about expiration dates is illegal. There are industry standards for expiration dates. We're supposed to self-monitor, so there's no way to know how widespread these practices are.

Not all of the supermarket workers who responded to our call had stories to share, but 1/3 of the people who worked in the industry in the last 10 years were being manipulated. It's no surprise to retired public health inspector Jim Cham. What kinds of stories have you heard about altering expiration dates? I have been receiving complaints from the public regarding you know when I buy a pill you know a product looks like someone changed it or covered it. They are the expiration date, all the people would say it looks like someone changed it using a pen or you smeared it all those things that people were wondering if it had been

tamper

ed with, that's right, you've been hearing about food

tamper

ing for over 30 years How do you know those things are really happening?

We often do a spot check, go to the meat counter or food package counter right away and do the best we can to see if that evidence can be collected. Yes, it's often difficult We catch in the act so who's minding the store? We tried for weeks to get an interview with the Retail Council of Canada industry group, but they won't talk on camera, so with test results in hand we pay them a visit. Hello. m CBC Marketplace's Erika Johnson waiting to see David Wilkes David Wilkes is the senior vice president of the retail council's grocery division we wait and wait finally he comes out to talk to us, what specifically are you going to do now that we've told you? people are altering dates to best of four, there is a risk of people getting sick, right?

I do not accept that products were changed or altered or there were safety related issues, good employees tell us that they are told by managers from above to change expiry dates, they are often right, so I do not accept that premise that Canadians are going to be able to trust when they go to the supermarket that they are buying food that is safe for them they can trust the quality of food found in Canadian stores they can trust food safety if we have discovered that people are It tells them to modify the expiration dates. What measures have they taken to ensure that the measures have already been taken? instead, the steps that were being taken we asked Wilkes if you will convey a message to your members, you know, a commitment to us today, will you commit to going back to your member stores and telling them that they have to enforce the policies that they They are already implemented because obviously that is not happening.

I don't need to do that because those policies are already in place. They are worse than and they don't follow me in we agree to disagree. That was interesting. He listened to our concerns and said. that basically these policies are followed in stores is not what we found, so what message do you have for retailers? As a mother as a light, we are putting our trust in you, so please help us, you must be honest with your consumers. I would say anyone. company altering expiration dates don't do it it's not worth my help your favorite fish oil or protein powder really any good for you dietary supplements a prevention capsule or a high dose are out there saying take this you will be a complete man a complete woman more than half of this protein is enriched basically they are misleading customers fish oil or snake oil none of the seven products we tested lived up to their label's claim