2 replies

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Circa 2009 _SteveDave

January 2, 2009 4:56 PM

@B: Didn't Sanjay also change the expiration dates?

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theblackdog

January 2, 2009 2:54 PM

@B: Win!

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MisterE

January 2, 2009 2:18 PM

I'm not trying to blame the consumer with this question:

Did the taste of the pie seem \"off\" to you? Did anything about the pie strike you odd?

7 replies

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AnnRullus

January 3, 2009 12:05 AM

Is it possible the only thing out of date was the box? I don't know how BK works, but if the pies are heated and packed at the store, I imagine the boxes with expiration dates are ready for quick packing. If that's the case, I could imagine there would be some extra boxes at the end of the day and, instead of throwing out the box, the store just puts a newer sticker on it.

If it's packed elsewhere in advance, then ewww.

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TaterTom

January 3, 2009 5:48 AM

@AnnRullus: That's a good question. Was it BK girls that were bathing in the kitchen sink? I wonder what they were doing while that pie [box] was expiring.

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Invisobel

January 2, 2009 4:14 PM

@MisterE: Did the pie have shifty eyes?...you should always be looking for the shifty eyes, that means they're evil.

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dorianh49

January 2, 2009 3:40 PM

@MisterE: A lot of these fast food products contain MSG (or ingredients with a high amount of free glutamate, such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein or autolyzed yeast extract), which has the effect of blocking signals to the brain that tells you that \"this food is rotten\". It's an ingenious preservative; you could be eating tainted food without really tasting anything \"off\".

Although, your comment reminds me of the joke where two cannibals are eating a clown and one says to the other, \"does this taste funny to you?\".

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Circa 2009 _SteveDave

January 2, 2009 4:59 PM

@dorianh49: Also remember that MSG is found in foods naturally, as well.

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dorianh49

January 2, 2009 7:00 PM

@Circa 2009 _SteveDave: Yeah, and just because something is \"natural\" (occuring in nature) doesn't mean it's good for you. Arsenic comes to mind.

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3eyes

January 3, 2009 7:20 PM

@dorianh49: MSG is related to umami which is one of the 5 basic tastes. Adding MSG is similar to adding sugar, salt, or lemon juice to a food.

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Circa 2009 _SteveDave

January 2, 2009 7:37 PM

@dorianh49: But it isn't found in foods that we eat in quanity naturally, is it?

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dorianh49

January 2, 2009 8:13 PM

@Circa 2009 _SteveDave: You make a good point. It's obviously better to get your MSG naturally-occuring in foods like seaweed and soy sauce (which will usually say \"no ADDED MSG\" on the label). I try to limit my intake from those foods, but completely try to avoid foods with the processed forms of MSG, containing hyrdolyzed or autolyzed ingredients.

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Jack Doyle

January 2, 2009 3:23 PM

@MisterE: You mean other than the fact it was a pre-packaged slice of pie that came from Burger King?

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calquist

January 2, 2009 3:26 PM

@Jack Doyle: Those Hershey Sundae pies are amazing. Deadly even before expiration, but deliciously amazing all the same.

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Blueskylaw

January 2, 2009 2:19 PM

Student of drama english?

4 replies

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mrpenbrook

January 3, 2009 3:33 AM

@Blueskylaw:

What piffle, to pile such invective upon so magniloquent an essay as that composed by our afflicted consumer! When indeed we should be inundating our ill-starred gourmand with lavish approbation, that he should condescend to share his woeful account with the philistines that frequent this instrument of recompense for such mistreated gudgeons as we! Huzzah, then, to our esteemed epistolarian, and go forth with our many praises.

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someToast

January 4, 2009 10:34 PM

@mrpenbrook: Insert the word \"well\" a few times and let's talk book deal.

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dorianh49

January 2, 2009 3:40 PM

@Blueskylaw: Probably a T.A.

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jdhuck

January 2, 2009 3:56 PM

@dorianh49: Which is more difficult?
Eating the pie or reading the tip?

Give me the bad pie!

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dorianh49

January 2, 2009 3:59 PM

@jdhuck: mmmmmmmm... tainted piiiiiie.

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fenrisulfr

January 2, 2009 2:20 PM

I work at a restaurant part time, and trust me, this is a common practice. It is usually just to extend the shelflife a day, but sometimes stuff gets missed, and sometimes people just don't care. Happy eating out, and oh yea the 5 second rule happens.

9 replies

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RandaPanda

January 4, 2009 7:40 AM

@fenrisulfr: I worked at a Wendy's in my local area AND an Arby's as well. And I agree that it is a common practice.

When I worked at Arby's, our salads were \"made fresh daily\". Usually, made fresh just indicated that the salads were flipped over, all the portions left on the top, and the lettuce at the bottom was checked for browning or anything that was going bad. Then the not so good stuff was replaced with fresher stuff. And the toppings were usually just left, unless they were showing obvious signs of spoilage.

All in all, I would have definetly complained to the manager and let them know. I also wouldn't stop there either. I'd be calling the health department as well.

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mzs

January 2, 2009 4:14 PM

@fenrisulfr: 5 second rule vs pizza:

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fenrisulfr

January 2, 2009 4:30 PM

@mzs:
heh that looks like a fake. I dont agree with the rule if there is dirt or matter stuck to the food. (just to clarify)

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Adam Holcomb

January 2, 2009 2:27 PM

@fenrisulfr:
You forgot the \"at the restaurant I work at\" after you said \"this is common practice.\" Your experience at one restaurant does not mean all places are like that. Just like MY experience that it DOESN'T happen doesn't mean all places are like that.

Plus, I do the 5 second rule everywhere, including outside. George Carlin had a good point: What good is an immune system if you don't use it?

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alexcassidy

January 4, 2009 11:51 PM

@Adam Holcomb: I've worked at restaurants, as well as a lot of people I know. I can assure you, it's common practice. Obviously not at all of them, probably not even many, but enough of them.

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batsy

January 2, 2009 8:01 PM

@Adam Holcomb: I can't stand those Purell addicts.

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mythago

January 2, 2009 4:13 PM

@Ayanami: Have you worked in a canning plant or on a farm? If so you'll probably decide you don't want to eat anymore, period.

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fenrisulfr

January 2, 2009 3:21 PM

@Adam Holcomb:
ive worked at more than one and ive seen it everywhere. I mean if I worked at a minimum of 2 restaurants and I have seen expiration stickers changed, you can extrapolate that to the whole contry you end up with millions of restaurants serving expired food that we pay for. I promise you underpaid under appreciated cooks dont give a damn about the people they are feeding, especially when managers are not around. Here's a joke, \"What happens when the 5 second rule is up?\" GO to the 10 second rule!

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Ayanami

January 2, 2009 4:08 PM

@fenrisulfr: I've worked at enough restaurants to never eat out at all anymore. Seriously, I haven't been to a restaurant in about 3 years. Saves a lot of coin, plus you don't have to worry about what was done to your food that you didn't see.

Yes, things like this ARE the norm, whether you want to believe it or not. No one that works there gives a shit about their jobs, that's why they're there in the first place.

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batsy

January 2, 2009 8:03 PM

@Ayanami: I agree it saves money, but being paranoid about your food enough to completely stop eating out is...well, paranoid. How many times have you actually gotten sick from tampered food at a restaurant? Like Holcomb quoted Carlin above, why have an immune system if you don't use it?

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Ayanami

January 2, 2009 8:15 PM

@batsy: I haven't and I can guarantee that I never will :) I've never really been into restaurants to begin with, working in a few during my school years just re-enforced that. I'm also uber cheap, that does not help either.

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Coles_Law

January 2, 2009 2:45 PM

@Adam Holcomb: Couldn't agree more. If I was caught changing expiration dates where I used to work (McDonald's), my managers would throw me out before I could peel the adhesive.

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West Coast Secessionist

January 3, 2009 7:37 PM

@Coles_Law: completely agree that one man's experience does not apply universally but in the McDs I used to work in, the managers would tell us to just reset the beeping timers on chicken patties/burger patties in the warming unit, so you never know if your patties were way over their supposed max hold time.

In contrast, the jack in the box I worked at was squeaky clean with things like that. Ofciutse they don't grill up dozens of patties in advance anyways.

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unspeak

January 2, 2009 2:22 PM

I've had a problem with ordering a milk (chocolate or white) from Fast Food places. After feeding unspeak jr. with old Milk I always make a point at actually reading the dates. It has not been a one time occurrence.

1 replies

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Coles_Law

January 2, 2009 2:46 PM

@unspeak: Sadly, this happens a lot. Milk is usually handled by the front counter people, and general, they are less familar with the concept of rotating stock as the people in back who deal with it daily.

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Shark1998

January 2, 2009 2:24 PM

Get a Life! You are complaining about crap food and it's quality?

Really, I wouldn't eat at McDonalds even when I worked there during High School. Their food is disgusting the way they prepare it in the back. I would go across the street and eat at Burger King for my lunch brakes. Man...did that piss off the managers.

6 replies

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coren

January 2, 2009 8:32 PM

@Shark1998: And you're complaining about the complaint. Doesn't that make you worse, and in more need of a life?

(I freely admit I have nothing better to do than sit around and comment to comments on the Consumerist today)

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katiat325

January 2, 2009 4:17 PM

@Shark1998: makes me want some jack in the box. mmm.

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Coles_Law

January 2, 2009 2:47 PM

@Shark1998: Congratulations, you're the first blame the victim post of the new year and the new owners!

I'll get the champagne.

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Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

January 2, 2009 2:58 PM

@Coles_Law: Oh, jinx. :) I was just about to say the same thing.

I think I shall go eat at some variety of McFood for lunch today just to spite the flame-the-victim-ers. Also Fetal McGee likes fast food. And not much else, I gotta say.

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ezacharyk

January 2, 2009 2:31 PM

@Shark1998: Wait. You're telling someone to go eat at Burger King right after they finished complaining about the same chain?

Glad to know you are some one people can count on.

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kev313

January 2, 2009 2:27 PM

@Shark1998: Good thing you went to Burger King, the standard of quality and cleanliness in the food industry, then.

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rpm773

January 2, 2009 2:28 PM

I just bought the Cliff Notes for that post:

\"Man finds multiple expiration date stickers on his Burger King pie, leading him to question the freshness of said pie.\"

Essay test on Monday. Have a good weekend.

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Skankingmike

January 2, 2009 2:32 PM

I thought I had bad grammar.

Just eat the damn pie and stop complaining. I'm sure all the preservatives in it make that thing last for months before it goes bad.

3 replies

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ilves

January 2, 2009 3:05 PM

@Skankingmike:

If that's true why is there an expiration sticker?

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Miguel Valdespino

January 2, 2009 4:47 PM

@ilves: The expiration sticker is a guidleline. Food does not immediately become life-threateneing after the date. Given the sue-happy nature of Americans, I'm sure that the expiration date is probably conservative.

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catastrophegirl chooses not to fly

January 2, 2009 5:29 PM

@Miguel Valdespino: true enough, i've had milk go bad long before the expiration date. i always consider an expiration date to be an educated guess by the industry

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batsy

January 2, 2009 8:06 PM

@catastrophegirl: Milk =/= fast food. Ever seen the footage of the McDonald's french fries left sitting for a year, and they hadn't decomposed at all or grown mold?

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Nick1693

January 4, 2009 3:06 PM

@batsy: I kept one of those toys in their original happy meal box, and there was a fry I found in there 2-3 years later. No mold. My brother ate it and didn't get sick.

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catastrophegirl chooses not to fly

January 3, 2009 5:44 AM

@batsy: no, but my dad once pulled a cookie jar out of the back of a cabinet and almost ate the fig newton in it before my mom reminded him it had been two years since we used that cookie jar.
doesn't mean that i am going to seriously believe ANY expiration dates. but i'm also not going to frighten myself into avoiding processed foods.

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batsy

January 3, 2009 7:01 PM

@catastrophegirl: Yeah, I just meant that some expiration dates should probably be considered, like for milk, but the dates for heavily processed foods are probably conservative. Use your nose!

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Rectilinear Propagation

January 2, 2009 2:42 PM

Just eat the damn pie and stop complaining.

@Skankingmike: Why should he? Why assume the expiration date doesn't take preservatives into account and is months off?

Why should anyone be OK with any restaurant using expired food?

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DonkeyJab

January 2, 2009 2:40 PM

The pie is a lie!

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basilray

January 2, 2009 2:45 PM

Having been a Burger King restaurant manager from 2003 - 2008, I can say that these things do unfortunately happen. Here's what I can offer:

1) Pies have a 72hr hold time once removed from the freezer. Does this mean that they are automatically bacteria ridden an unedible at exactly 72hrs? Absolutely not, this is just the standard that BK practices.

2) Burger King has standards that are almost too high and unattainable in many markets. Having worked at high volume and low volume stores, it is much more difficult to keep these things from happening in smaller stores. The manager is expected be on top of every last piece of the store, often times without help from other capable managers underneath him. The amount of checklists a manager must have completed between open and the start of lunch is absurd. There are at least 3 required BK checklists, much of which has duplications or things that are just silly to worry about (like gum on the exterior walkways).

3) Burger King takes the health code and generally doubles or halves the requirements. What I mean is that when they say that pie is only servable for 3 days, it is probably 6. This is done because it is human nature to cheat. Especially when these things have a BIG impact on the bottom line with ever increasing food costs. Another example is the dish sanitizer. The food code states that after dishes are washed and rinsed they should soak for 10 - 20 seconds in properly diluted sanitizer solution prior to air drying. The BK standard is 60 seconds. Why? Because if you tell an employee that it's 10 seconds, they will simply dip the dish in the sanitizer and remove it.

I am not trying to justify the actions of the BK in question, nor say the tipster is in the wrong. However, a BBB claim is pretty silly. His health was more than likely never put into jeopardy. Being a fast-food manager is a very trying position as you often times are understaffed or staffed with people who just don't care. It's very difficult to keep a legitimate (read: legal) staff and meet the bottom line with all the corporate and franchise regulations and checklists.

If you don't agree...work in food service of any kind for a week. You'll quickly change your tune and the way you treat waitresses, bartenders, bus-boys, etc.

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Voyou_Charmant

January 2, 2009 2:50 PM

You ate the whole thing, it clearly wasn't bad.

It's also very possible that they put the wrong sticker on first, and lazily stuck the correct sticker over it.

All of that aside; who in the world writes like that about an old pie?

6 replies

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coren

January 2, 2009 8:33 PM

@Voyou_Charmant: Not tasting wrong =/= nothing wrong with the item

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coren

January 2, 2009 8:33 PM

@coren: Whoops, hit submit too soon.

If that were true, no one would ever get foodborne illness or food poisoning or anything of the sort - their magic \"tastes funny\" senses would kick in

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downwithmonstercable

January 2, 2009 4:54 PM

@Voyou_Charmant: \"who in the world writes like that about an old pie?\"

Hipsters trying too hard.

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Antediluvian

January 2, 2009 4:02 PM

@Voyou_Charmant: Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

This was my _first_ thought.

Sort of an Occam's razor thing.

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Voyou_Charmant

January 2, 2009 2:52 PM

@Voyou_Charmant: Also, what's with those pictures? What's the point?

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jdhuck

January 2, 2009 3:59 PM

@Voyou_Charmant: The OP should try the pie in suppository form. That is the nicest way I can say it.

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easy2panic

January 2, 2009 2:53 PM

The pie-eater might be able to make a claim against False Advertising, and there might be a FDA law against that too. Other than that, if you don't get sick, don't worry about it. Of course on that note one could say you want to make a deal out of it so that no one else might get sick from this practice in the future.

3 replies

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sonneillon

January 2, 2009 8:23 PM

@easy2panic: No he has no realistic tort. He has to prove damages and pain+suffering is usually based on hospital expenses. He could file an FDA complaint but he won't see any money in the end unless Burger King decides to give him some.

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fantomesq

January 2, 2009 5:15 PM

@easy2panic:

False advertising?!? Only if he was lured into the purchase by the date sticker on the package pre-purchase. Doubtful. He already has a remedy. Complain and get the pie exchanged.

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Miguel Valdespino

January 2, 2009 4:49 PM

@easy2panic: Or you could bring it back the next day to get a free pie. And if you're lucky, the manager will get one that only has one expiration sticker.

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6502programmer

January 2, 2009 2:55 PM

I don't understand what he's torqued off about. If you're eating at Burger King, you understand that dodgy food is part of the adventure, not something out of place.

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Nerdhouse1

January 2, 2009 2:57 PM

Maybe the carton was labeled previously and never used, so rather than waste the packaging they just put a new sticker on it, maybe they're trying not to be wasteful.

5 replies

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Anonymous

March 12, 2009 4:16 PM

@basilray: @basilray: @Nerdhouse1: correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't \"labeled previously and never used\" pretty much the DEFINITION of expired?the pies arrive pre-packaged (and therefore if the pie is thrown out, it's package is as well)And at all the people that think maybe it was dated incorrectly at first (like, Thursday was the pull date, not the expiration date) that might SOUND like a good theory, except that by BK standards, a pie pulled from the freezer on a Thursday would get a sticker that says SATURDAY... not monday.

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Keter

@Nerdhouse1: That was my first thought, too. Not that it protects the OP's arteries from the consequences of eating a fast-food pie. ;o)

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Coles_Law

January 2, 2009 3:20 PM

@Nerdhouse1: It's possible the pie was labeled by someone new who stuck the day he pulled the pie from the freezer on the carton instead of the day it expired. Someone else caught the mistake and corrected it.

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loganmo

January 2, 2009 3:13 PM

I didn't even realize that fast food pies came with expiration dates!

@Nerdhouse1:

That was actually my initial thought, too.

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tundey

January 2, 2009 3:10 PM

@Nerdhouse1: Yep!

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krispykrink

January 2, 2009 3:12 PM

That's what you get when you eat at a Dow Chemical plant? Dunno... got nuthin' else. From what I hear, that stuff doesn't expire.

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penarestel

January 2, 2009 3:15 PM

Alex, I'd recommend skipping the BBB for now and calling up the local Department of Health. I'm sure they'd love to hear about the local fast food joint violating food safety laws.

1. Eat expired pie
2. Call DOH
3. Call BBB
4. ????
5. Profit!

1 replies

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Nighthawke

@penarestel:
I concur with pena. Go Directly to the Dept. of Health's office with said pie, set it down on the desk of the director and ask him if he would like to eat one of those.

I'd love to see that franchise get its comeuppance.

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Jorn Knuttila

January 2, 2009 3:22 PM

What am I supposed to get from this really big, blurry picture of nothing?

1 replies

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unobservant

January 2, 2009 6:36 PM

@Jorn Knuttila: It's not blurry - your eyes are just swimming from the sheer self-congratulatory cleverness of the OPining!

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floraposte

January 2, 2009 3:32 PM

I can't read any of the label text--is this an expiration date or a suggested use before date, and is it under any government regulations or is it just Burger King's own freshness dating to enhance the belief that these are hot off of the presses?

My guess is that it's the second in both cases, which means that nobody other than the customers and Burger King would care, and the local Burger King clearly doesn't care. It does rather make a mockery of the intent of the sticker, of course, which is something customers might like to know, but if I'm guessing correctly about the actual sticker meaning, it doesn't actually mean that the food has hit an unconsumable dropoff.

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khiltd

January 2, 2009 3:41 PM

nl2br is nobody's friend.

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pollyannacowgirl

January 2, 2009 3:56 PM

That was painful to read. Actually, I didn't. I just gathered the gist of the post from the translation by Consumerist.com.

Someone's a little too into Monty Python. Just write in PLAIN ENGLISH, please. And take better photos.

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Coyote

January 2, 2009 4:06 PM

My first thought was just a reuse of packaging. And really I can't even tell that's a pie let alone a date from that pic... hope he's still got it if he wants to try a claim or anything.

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captadam

January 2, 2009 4:07 PM

\"...little sounds more disgusting than fast food pie after its expiration date.\"

Oooh! Oooh! I have one! Fast food pie .... period!

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PermanentStar

January 2, 2009 4:15 PM

Those dates aren't necessarily \"expiration dates\" in the grocery store sense - they may be freshness dates as per Burger King's operating standards. When I worked in fast food (Arby's and A&W), there were plenty of out dates that didn't make sense as far as to how long you could keep something - like a contained refrigerated portion of sliced deli meat could only be kept for 36 - 48 hours (depending on the meat) - I imagine that people keep deli meat beyond that in their own refridgerators, but it was the operational standard set by the company, not the health deptartment.

Not to say that this is the case, but it is possible, and not to say it still wasn't good business practice, you may also want to contact burger king corporate or the franchise owner (I'm not sure how/if they do franchising) something like that if they aren't violating the health code, but are violating the corporate policy - they might be in a position to lose franchising license, or at least have a thorough inspection by a higher up than the store manager to get things into shape.

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oslick

January 2, 2009 4:32 PM

This is not uncommon. I worked for a place that sold food to federal prisons, that - on a daily - basis, cans were wiped down with acetone ( to remove dating). The way they described it \"That label was put there by the person who owned it at the time, it was just their opinion. I'm the new owner and I have a different opinion.\"

That said, I quickly left the job. But I do know some expiration dates are pre-mature.

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MrsLopsided

January 2, 2009 4:33 PM

Ah! sweet mystery of life, at last I've found thee;
Ah! I know at last the secret of it all...

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maciejb

January 2, 2009 4:45 PM

If you didn't get sick, you have no claim. Burger King sets its own freshness standards. You have a case if they served you a moldy piece of pie. But if they served you a pie that may or may not have been below the freshness standards BK set for themselves.. well, who cares?

4 replies

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crazydavythe1st

January 2, 2009 6:54 PM

@maciejb: Finally. Someone who understands the way it works. The expiration dates that a BK puts on the pie themselves are extremely conservative. They take the pie out of the freezer, cut it up and put it in the fridge. Then they say it goes bad a day or so later. People would have no problem eating a pie out of their fridge for a few days at least. I don't know the exact standards the health department has, but in most cases the fast food restaurants have it well taken care of.

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applejax2

January 2, 2009 6:48 PM

@maciejb: The company promises to meet certain standards. If individuals at one store site (or, let's face it, most store sites) choose not to meet those standards, then the company can be held liable for the behavior of those individuals. The fact that this healthy person did not get sick is not the only factor at play here. A young child, an elderly person, a pregnant woman, or any person with a comprimised immune system could have gotten served that product and been made very sick. The company doesn't want this to happen. They just want the managers to order proper amounts of products so that they food doesn't go bad before someone orders it.

It would be a big hassle to take it that far, though. He should take it back to the store for a refund and ask for a free meal, too. If he doesn't get that, he should write a letter to the corporate office. They'll give him the freebies.

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maciejb

January 5, 2009 9:40 PM

@applejax2: Certainly, BK would want to enforce their own rules, so yeah, you can complain to a higher-up and get someone in trouble. I just mean there are no legal obligations on BK's part. They can choose to do good business, but, they certainly don't have to. I don't mean someone actually needs to get sick for there to be a problem. I'm just pointing out the difference between \"fresh\" and \"safe\".
If the problem is freshness, you can take it up with BK for the sake of good business. But there are no laws mandating freshness, only food safety.

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fantomesq

January 2, 2009 5:27 PM

@maciejb:

Exactly! Well said.

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brokedickrooster

\"Ask for a refund, because little sounds more disgusting than fast food pie after its expiration date. Past that, I think dropping the Better Business Bureau a line would be pertinent.\"

That's some \"fast food-quality\" prose there. Bill Shakespeare better be glad he's dead.

Since I've never eaten BK pie and can't tell from the crappy quality of the photos, do they put an actual date on the sticker or just an abbreviated day?

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fantomesq

From what we can see, the 'expiration date' stickers are actually rotational stock stickers with only days of the week, not full dates on them. The idea is that if you stock a product on Wednesday and it has a one day shelf life, it gets a Thursday sticker. If the same product has a five day shelf life, the same product would get a Monday sticker. The idea is that employees SHOULD be rotating usage and serving the older product first.

We're not told what day the OP ate at BK but it is just as likely that the wrong shelf life sticker was placed on the product and that error was corrected... Monday comes before Thursday just as it does after it.

Did the OP contact management for an explanation? If he ate the pie, it smacks of \"This food is awful and there isn't enough of it!\".

1 replies

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Manraysky

January 2, 2009 6:05 PM

@fantomesq: I was just going to say that! Those aren't \"expiration stickers,\" they are DayDots. In this case, possibly used to indicate what day the product arrived, that's the typical use for them.

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Larry Dorman

January 2, 2009 5:33 PM

Stacked stickers are not automatic proof of fraud. It wouldn't be the least bit surprising to find that the pie boxes were originally stickered, but not used. Instead of throwing them away they re-stickered them and used them for a new batch.

If the pie was as old as contended then it most likely would have been fuzzy. At the least, it wouldn't have likely taken looking at a sticker to find out it wasn't fresh.

2 replies

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fantomesq

January 2, 2009 6:56 PM

@Larry Dorman:

And, Alex, its NOT fraud, unless the OP had specifically requested a pie with a Thursday sticker. The sticker was not part of the OP's consideration when ordering the pie, thus the change of stickers does not constitute fraud.

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maciejb

January 5, 2009 9:42 PM

@fantomesq: bingo!

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suburbancowboy

January 2, 2009 6:37 PM

Don't worry, there are probably so many preservatives in that pie, that it will be \"edible\" long after we are all dead and buried, and not rotting in our graves thanks to all the preservatives.

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Dave

January 2, 2009 6:55 PM

It's called macro mode on your digital camera. Learn how to use it plz k thx.

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Anonymous

January 2, 2009 7:27 PM

Also, Burger King has done a reverse shrink ray.
They renamed Small, Medium, Large to Value, Small, Medium respectively. They don't serve large anymore. Even though the new medium container looks a LOT like their old large containers.

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Doug Powhida

January 2, 2009 7:59 PM

What's a shame is the quality of the photos.

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savdavid

January 2, 2009 8:35 PM

Once you understand that companies do not care about you, then it becomes easy to remember to be careful with your purchases.

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bainelaker

January 2, 2009 8:37 PM

Don't those little stickers say what day the pie was MADE? The one time I had a Burger King pie was at LAX airport, and it had a sticker saying \"WED\" on Wednesday.

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coren

January 2, 2009 8:39 PM

I see why the guy is pissed, but god is the complaint awkwardly worded, and it seems to be purposely so. I mean, saying something like

\"I went in to Burger King on Wednesday and ordered a pie. The expiration sticker on the pie said it was good through Thursday. But then I found an older expiration that said it was supposed to be eaten by (Tuesday or Monday - his post doesn't make this clear).\"

Also, the FOUR bit is misleading, as the pie wasn't expiring on Sunday - does it really matter when the pie was before it's expiration so much as when it's expiration was?

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Petra

January 2, 2009 9:26 PM

It's more plausible to think that the pie was placed inside a box that had already had a sticker put on it earlier, but had not been used. So instead of taking the old sticker off, they just put a new sticker on. When this kind of food is to expire, the employees are allowed to eat it or take it home with them on the last day, so that there's no chance of serving it to a customer and it doesn't go to waste. But I'm sure they'd offer you another pie free of charge regardless if you took the box in to show them.

Hopefully you still have it, because those photos show nothing to back up your concerns as they are badly out of focus (turn on a light instead of using the flash next time! Flash and closeup photos = BAD! If you don't have macro mode and you're trying to take a close-up picture, take it further back where the image can actually come into focus and then just crop it on your computer later. Trust me, it works)

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Indyken

January 2, 2009 9:26 PM

I wish there was a spreadsheet or website available of all of the shrink ray'd products and we simply encourage people to stop buying these items. This is deception at it's most glorious!!

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Grrrrrrr, now with two buns made of bacon.

January 2, 2009 11:33 PM

There are probably enough preservatives in that pie that it would be good for another year.

Yes, it's sleazy to paste over the date sticker with another one, but on the other hand, I doubt the pie was anywhere near going bad or even tasting \"off.\"

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crankymediaguy

January 3, 2009 1:42 AM

The pie may or may not have been past its expiration, but judging from that photo, it was well beyond its sharpness date.

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Anonymous

January 3, 2009 2:05 AM

The stickers on the pie are daydots. Burger King gets their pies frozen. They are then pulled out and thawed. They are supposed to be good for three days after frozen. I would say that what happened is someone who pulled the pies did not know how to date them properly and someone else just put the new sticker over the old one. That is what I hope. But this will happen everywhere, at any fast food place or restaurant for that matter.

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Gonzobot

January 3, 2009 3:45 AM

Those pies are chemically formulated to last for weeks before appearing bad. Just like storebought bread - it will stay healthy for a month, while fresh baked bread lasts less than a week, all in the name of making you buy it even if it is old.

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wickedpixel

January 3, 2009 6:00 AM

this is a non-story. they pre-stickered the packaging and never used it, so they put a new stick over the old. move along. nothing to see here.

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Dan Kelley

January 4, 2009 1:32 AM

the author wrote: \"dropping the Better Business Bureau a line would be pertinent.\"

Uhhh...what possible good would that do? What customer of any fast food restaurant consults the BBB before eating??

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Freebooter Fox

January 4, 2009 6:36 AM

I wonder if maybe whoever produces the packaging for the pies just had a large batch with typos in the expiration dates, and instead of completely remaking the boxes they just slapped some stickers on it. That happens sometimes.

I'd rather just buy those pies from the grocery store anyway. It's cheaper, the same pie, and you can eat/buy whenever you want.

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ninjatoddler

January 4, 2009 7:46 AM

You pay what you get for fast food.

For example, Taco Bell employees (multiple locations) consistently make an effort to never get my order right. I order 6 tacos, they give me 5. I ask for the Hot sauce and they double check with me but in the end, the bag comes up empty sans a trace of sauce.

Then there was Arbys. The dude at the drive-in drop-off window asked if I wanted ketchup. There were NO customers in the store and NONE behind me. I said yes and told him to specifically fill it up at which point he said \"sure\" went back in with the bag and came out. Got home and no ketchup.

The truth is fast food joints hire complete morons. Burger King isn't to blame in this incident. The cashier and kitchen staff and all the way to the store managers are who we should point our fingers at.

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stinkiepinkie

January 4, 2009 7:42 PM

Granted it was wrong for this to happen to to you but if one eats at these places of .25cent pies & .50cent burgers please be advised these places for the most part, have people that don't want to be there serving me & you. Look at some of the videos that show employees spitting, urinating,& other questionable acts at eaterys. Some employees are on probation, high-school dropouts,in other words the lower end of the employment line.Beware u have been warned

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FuryOfFirestorm

January 4, 2009 9:28 PM

At least it wasn't Meg's 'hair pie' ( with Cool Hwip! )

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ZukeZuke

January 4, 2009 9:38 PM

Two words:

Macro focus

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Anonymous

January 5, 2009 2:56 PM

All the pies at burger king are individually pre packaged and sealed in the paper boxes before they are shipped to the stores. the slices arrive frozen in a box of about 48. the sticker is applied by the employees when the pies are thawed, with usually about a five day shelf life. the stickers are rotational stickers so a pie doesn't get forgotten about in the back of the fridge. there is a seperate expiration date on the package provided by the bakery, but a frozen pie lasts a really long, long, long time.