In last two weeks, I encountered one expired orange juice and 3 month expired meat in Migros. Is this common in switzerland? I don't know how many times I have not checked the expiry date and ate/drank expired stuff. Is there some place to complain about this, other than the business itself?

3 month old meat and your still alive to tell the tale. Wow you are one lucky -------. Im sure people on here will give you some more advice as to what to do.

are you American? are you reading the dates in American format?

Our Migros often had expired food. But mostly it was already cut lettuce and such things, possibly some bakery item, and then it was only a day or two past its date.
I can't imagine 3 months. What kind of meat was it???

And you're not dead yet......lucky you (better watch out for Pig flu though, that's a real killer so the press wish us to believe)

Its true - I am amazed when I look at the dates (I'm a Brit and fully trained to check the dates) to see how old things are - I looked at smoked salmon which was 2 days overdue and no discount and apples a month overdue! This is a bit of a shocker - I read on this forum you can ask for the produce free but I haven't been brave enough - just managed to sort out my shopping bags!

No, this is quite normal here in CH.
You get used to avoiding death after a while.......

And I must agree with all this. Coming from an "emerging" country I was horrified at what I have seen in both Migros and Coop. Well, the salegirls and all are cutely dressed, every item is bar coded, fancy cards, technology et al, but rotten foods . I have seen strawberry packets with visibly black mold/fungus growing on it, and they have the cheek to keep it on display...God knows what stuff went inside me unnoticed until then.

From then on, I am living solely on ETH Canteen and Rice/yoghurt for dinner and I am alive

I was wondering the same.

When I first moved here, although completely aware of the differences, a lifetime of reading dates one way would occasionally lead to misreading them here, particularly when tired or rushed.

Where's your sense of adventure. Remember, "What doesn't kill you..... Will probably just make you wish it had!"

As an American, my experience has been that meat is generally marked down when it gets old. I often but it at a discount when it is marked down 25% and I will eat it that evening. Quite convenient, and a good bargain, actually.ree

That being said, I have seen MANY berries that are moldy and salad that is soggy in Coop and Migros. But this happens in the US, occasionally, too. Any produce, I inspect closely before I buy it. I will check meat labels for a while, too.

But the other posters may be correct, you may be misunderstanding the European date format...it is date/month/year, and not the same as in the US, where it is month/date/year.

fduvall

Hmmm, but I have my priorities when it comes to adventure...out in the nature where there is natural light and air, i am quite wild. But not with food rotting in sealed environments...revolting yuckkk.

That reminds me, each time I pass the meats section of Migros I notice a stench emanating from there too... I am a liberal carnivore, and know fresh fish and meat isn't supposed to smell . Especially when cased in airtight packets . Must be one of those mistaken expiry date packets?

I had a blonde American friend, who was very pleased with herself when she finished a jigsaw puzzle in only 6 months, despite it saying "3 to 5 Years" on the box....

Use by dates are highly conservative and most food is good to eat a couple of days past this date. Having said that, I don't mess about with meat (esp. pork or chicken), fish or certain dairy products (although I will cook beef 2 or 3 days over its date as long as it has been constantly refrigerated and is then cooked well).

Beef is anyway not treated well in most supermarkets - it is supposed to mature for a couple of weeks after slaughter but I think it is just hacked off the beast while it is still warm and shoved into packing trays.

Most cheese is good for more than a week after its date so long as it has been refrigerated and kept in an airtight tub.

The trick is to rely on your senses (visual and smell) if it looks and smells okay, it's probably okay to eat.

For me the most important thing is fridge hygiene and keeping work surfaces clean. That is the main culprit of an upset stomach.

The OP is from India, and it would appear that the European format (DD-MM-YYYY) is standard there too.

It was worth pointing out, though, all the same.

And keeping the fridge at the correct temperature!

I know putting "use by" dates on stuff isn't an exact science but I find them a useful guide. I think we should add the feature to the forum's thread summary page to alert us when threads are past their sell by date.

I can remember when there were no sell-by dates on food and the population was regularly wiped out by food poisoning...

It is true that in the Olden Days there were no sell-by dates, but I doubt that in the Olden Days, food was routinely carried across entire continents, to sit on a shelf for weeks on end, before being purchased by the unfortunate modern shopper.

From what my parents tell me (I wasn't around in the Olden Days, you see), food tended to be fresher in the first place, didn't usually have quite so much crap pumped into it, and it was easier to recognise when something had gone off.

Whereas nowadays, it's a miracle we get anything fresh at all...

(But if we must insist on fresh ingredients for our Thai stir-fries or Moroccan tagines, we only have ourselves to blame, no?)

Arghh. You have no idea what you are talking about. I am an EHO (back in the old country!) and you absolutely cannot rely on taste and smell when it comes to food safety. Food poisoning organisms may well be rife way before taste or smell is affected. The dates given tend to be there for good reason and 'use by' dates especially are not generally "highly conservative". Blimey, people will be vomiting all over the place if they take this advice. I agree though that the most important factor is hygiene, especially hand washing. The majority of food poisoning cases originate in the home so don't say you weren't warned.