Food packaging is a huge regulatory hurdle than manufacturers and retailers need to clear. While correctly labelling products with their ingredients, weights, expiry dates and nutritional information is relatively straightforward in and of itself, at scale there’s always room for error.
Of course, there’s also room for misleading the public as to the contents of a product and its longevity, either deliberately or by mistake.
Unfortunately for one regional US grocery chain, falling foul of those regulations has landed it with a $75,000 (£55,800) fine over a ‘serious breach of consumer trust’.
Stop & Shop, the retailer in question, is common to the US’s northeastern region.
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Following an investigation conducted by the Ocean County Department of Consumer Affairs in New Jersey, a Stop & Shop outlet in Toms River, New Jersey was deemed to have followed a ‘widespread pattern of product mislabelling and improper handling of beef and poultry products across multiple store locations’.
Customers had issued complaints over meat sold at the grocery chain's location spoiling prematurely, with officials probing the matter later finding ‘systemic mislabelling practices’ across five Ocean County Stop & Shop stores, including mislabelled dates on products and spoiled products on display.
These infractions included mislabelled expiry dates, and even examples of expired food being found on store shelves.
The investigators said the affected products were labelled with dates relative to when they were put on display rather than when they were packaged, making them appear fresher to the naked eye than they actually were.
"In some cases, beef and poultry products were stamped with extended expiration ranges that exceeded the recommendations of wholesalers," said the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Investigators also discovered that Stop & Shop had increased its reliance on pre-packaged meats over products butchered by in-house operatives.
"This was a serious breach of consumer trust and confidence," said Ronald Heinzman, Director of the Ocean County Department of Consumer Affairs. "Consumer Affairs took a strong position that this was an immediate public safety, health, and welfare issue."
Separately a spokesperson for the 1914-founded chain told NJ Advance Media: "At Stop & Shop, we take all food safety matters very seriously.
"With respect to this specific situation, upon being notified of the matter, we conducted an investigation and took immediate action. We follow industry best practices and manufacturers' instructions on expiration dates on our products."
In response to the investigation's findings, Stop & Shop has agreed to pay a $75,000 fine and to review and improve its safety standards across its 46 locations in New Jersey.
Rachael Davis