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It's either the actions of one sleazy dairy manager or one idiot stockboy. I certainly don't see a grand conspiracy here!
It's either the actions of one sleazy dairy manager or one idiot stockboy. I certainly don't see a grand conspiracy here!
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it's probably not even the supermarket's fault - i'm guessing that the front of the cartons were facing the sales floor, and that the dairy company made the decision to print the dates on the reverse side. a picture would have been helpful.
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i agree with the above statements - if oth the expiration date AND the label were facing backwards, then idiot stocker/scummy department manager.
otherwise, i don't see a huge issue.
Consumer stated that he/she was dealing with paper milk cartons. From my experience working in a dairy department years ago, manufactueres usually print the codes on the glued portion at the top. If the manufacturer placed the date on only one side and printed the cartons in a way where you can't tell front from back, then it is conceivable that the code could be flipped around by accident when filling the shelf.
The local chain grocery store we go to has the date stamped on their store brand milk on the top back of the bottle, with the label facing front. Is that what Matt's saying, or did the store take the milk and out it in the cooler backwards?
I think it's entirely realistic that they all could have been stocked that way by coincidence. Chances are all of the cartons are facing the same way in whatever sort of box/crate the store purchases them from. If the person stocking the shelves is standing in the same position and using the same motion to put each of them on the shelf, which is a reasonable expectation, then they'd all be facing the same way.
Sorry, but it sounds like coincidence to me.
I always buy my milk from Publix as everywhere else the milk starts to smell and taste bad before the sell/use by date
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That and Publix actually has a \"guarantee\". But never be fooled, check the date even if you are in a hurry. You don't buy eggs without first checking the carton do you?
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I don't think that is any more/less \"tricky\" than other manufacturers who stamp expiration dates in hard to find places on their packaging.
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Maybe the stockboy does it so that they can see the expiration dates from the stockroom?
While Matt chooses to monitor sell-buy dates, the merchants is required to monitor them to insure expired product is pulled. If all the dates face forward (customer convenience) then the store can't check and pull product from the stockroom.
Me thinks the store is just putting employee convenience ahead of customer convenience.
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Perhaps, without a picture of the carton and what it looks like, it's hard to say whether they faced them so the front is toward the cutomers or what. And obviously, if the person is stocking correctly, the oldest ones will be at the front. As long as it's not after the sell-by date, I don't see the big deal with the way they stocked.
the store i worked at, they put the milk in from behind the shelves...it could just be an easier way for the store to see the expiration date...considering they aren't covering it with stickers i wouldn't see it as a big deal. its not hard to pull out a couple to find a later date. fortunately, my house goes through milk incredibly fast that its never an issue.
I agree I dont see an issues. They are not going to put the bottoms facing backwards so date must have been printed on back of carton.
Maybe, maybe not. I could just be an over-worked, under-paid stocker put them all in backwards.
Regardless, I've seen that happen a number of times over the years - just pull them all out and check the dates... OR just walk into the cooler and look at the backside.
Also, never buy the milk that's in the front by the front door - no matter what the date. That door opening and closing all day has caused it to go up/down a few degrees several times during the day - those tend to spoil faster.
Keep your milk at home in the back of the fridge - keeps it colder, lasts longer.
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As a former frozen food manager I can say that it's unlikely that this was done at a store level with intent to deceive. By default, a dairy stocker is going to put the milk in with the label facing outward. If the date is written on the opposite side, that was a decision made by the company that supplies the milk, or a misprint (which is common).
There is one industry-standard practice that applies to milk expiration dates, or any expiration dates for that matter, and that's rotation. The newer product must be placed toward the back, and the older product toward the front. Otherwise the older product will not be bought before it expires.
In other words, for the freshest milk, be prepared to reach.
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I have a Stop & Shop and a Shaws supermarket equal distance from my home. I stopped going to Stop & Shop because, no matter what the expiration date on the milk was, it always started to go bad well before the expiration date. I never had that problem with Shaws.
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If it goes bad before the date? My guess is that that is becasue of poor handling before it gets into the case to be sold byt the shipper and/or person filling the cases at the store. If I remember correctly, for every five minutes that milk sits outside of a refrigeration unit, that is one less hour that milk will stay fresh. I read this; didn't study it. The dates on milk are NOT absolute values but there is a variance involved but I don't know what the +/- acceptable days are. I know that milk in my frig can last up to a whole week past the date without going bad and before even the slightest smell begins but I keep my frig cold. I have noticed that stores in the past 20 years have lowered the refrig units to a lower temp. IMO, that is attitributal to higher energy costs and higher bills. This is why you'll see some stores not even refriging their beer and soda; costs too much these days. While visiting with my ex and her parents in France, I noticed that their milk comes in small 1 Ltr cartons and are not refriged at all. It had a nice, clean taste without all those chem's added. I have no idea how they process their milk, but it tasted a 110% better than our milk. Of course I put it in the frig after opening it but it still tasted better.
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Well, as someone who worked for Stop and Shop's Quality Control Laboratory (when they still had one); I worked on their dairy products (when they still had their own dairy)...
Stop and Shop Milk and Shaws Milk are the same. They're all put up by Garelick now.
I'd complain to your local store manager about it.
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There's a convenience store in my neighborhood where I no longer buy dairy. (Not that I go there much anyway.) The coolers are too warm, and milk well within the expiration date has spoiled.
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Oh no! It's finally begun! The grand conspiracy to... um... er... well, I don't know, but it's sure begun! It should be brought up to the manager. If he listens to your complaint, then cackles maniacally and shouts OOGA BOOGA at you, then you'll know the imposition of the New World Order has started.
Or perhaps the stocker rushed through the job to go home/go on break. No, that never happens in any job anywhere. Couldn't be that.
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Someone correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't NY have a weird law about when you can sell milk? Like it expires before the date or something like that?
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New York sets the date several days earlier. Milk sold in the area is stamped \"Sell by 1/31 (1/24 in NYC)\" or something similar.
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So I'd have to open the door and turn one of the cartons around 180 degrees?! Who has that kind of time to waste?! How would I fit in my daily quota of misplaced outrage over inconsequential events!?
Wow, that's a little bit of a pain, but it's standard practice for grocery stores to put the older product out front where it's more likely to be grabbed. Overall, the more milk the store, you know, sells, the less they have to discard, and the lower the price is...
Really not a conspiracy. Nothing to see here. Move along folks.
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It's never occured to me to check the date on milk - the stock turnover is so high that it's replenished several times a day - several times an hour in some cases. You'd have to really try in most supermarkets to buy elderly milk.
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I wouldn't be too sure it's a conspiracy and done that way on purpose. If the milk cartons are all arranged facing one way in their container (whether it's a carton, pallet, case, etc.) and the stocker is putting them in, it seems to me very likely that they'll all end up facing in one direction or the other, not randomly.
Of course, the stocker might have been told to position his milk supply so that, as he put the milk cartons in, they'd all end up with the dates facing back ... but the mere uniformity here doesn't necessarily prove that's what happened.
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I guess none of you have ever worked in a store loading milk.
If the milk is loaded from the back it is easier and faster to load it using the handle on the right which will make it go in backwards from the customers view.
If you want the milk to face outward from loading it in the back then you need to take your hand off the handle and spin it around.
When I loaded milk from the back I would pick it up with the handle and then switch to holding it from the bottom and spin it so the label is facing outward as I dropped it in.
This is simply a case of a lazy stocker, nothing more.
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How would this trick someone into buying milk that's about to expire? Even assuming that somehow the arrangement of the cartons prevents one from looking at the expiration dates, why would that mean that that person is more likely to pick up an about-to-expire milk versus a newer carton?
Hint: If stored correctly, milk will be good for up to two weeks past the printed 'Sell By' date. STOP WASTING MILK, YOU'RE RAISING THE DAMNED PRICE FOR THE REST OF US.
As the poster said, nothing new. The freshest milk is always in the back. Personally, unless the milk is going to expire RIGHT NOW, this is not an issue in my family. Our kids go through so much milk in one week that none of it has a chance to see an expiration date.
If someone is inclined to check the expiration dates, they'll do so even if they have to turn the carton around. If they're not in the habit of checking the date, it won't matter which way it's facing. I'll chalk this up as a non-issue.
Mike specifically referred to cartons of milk, not jugs. Most cartons of milk I've seen are identical on two sides. So long as one of these 'label' sides is facing forward, I can't see the stock person being overly concerned. I used to stock shelves, and you shouldn't read anything in to uniformity other than neatness and repetition of motion.
As the poster said, nothing new. The freshest milk is always in the back. Personally, unless the milk is going to expire RIGHT NOW, this is not an issue in my family. Our kids go through so much milk in one week that none of it has a chance to see an expiration date.
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\"On accident\"?
By accident.
This seems to be a New York thing. How did this happen?
We also wait \"on line,\" not \"in line.\" And we call Coke, \"soda\" like normal people :)
No,,,it's called \"pop\", not soda. I also say, \"on accident\" but I am from Michigan.
The on line thing makes even less sense. How can you be on it? You're in it. When I hear people say that, I seriously think they mean they were sitting in front of their computer.
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I've seen this before, at most chain if you take out the first 3 milks the 4th will last longer
1. This is obviously a stockist's error and not some conspiracy.
2. Even in NY the sell-by date is clearly marked.
3. The freshest milk is supposed to be at the back but it isn't always. Again, it depends on who stocked the shelf and how they did it. Even if it is done right, one row would likely have different dates in it. At Trader Joe's it's a complete crapshoot and I have seen three different dates all mixed up together just on 2% gallons.
4. How the milk is handled before it goes in the cooler is important. It can sit unrefrigerated for hours. No, it's not supposed to, but it happens. I even had a friend tell me that at the grocery store he worked in during high school, the milk was sometimes stored unrefrigerated in the back for days. It was never refrigerated until it went in the case. (This was several decades ago.) So the expiration date is only helpful if the milk is stored properly. Which leads to:
5. Many people have refrigerators that aren't cold enough. Invest in a $5 refrigerator thermometer. My fridge has a cold spot in one corner on the top shelf and that's where I keep the milk.
6. I can always check the date on a carton of milk or yogurt or eggs. A MUCH bigger problem at one grocery store I sometimes shop in (Western Beef) is that they don't put prices on the items, the shelves, or on a sign. No, there are no prices on milk, eggs, and some dairy products. There is no way to decide what size eggs to buy based on cost, etc. I have reported it to the NYS Dept. of Agriculture which regulates dairy prices and inspects grocery stores several times. Each time the store puts price tags on the stuff on the shelves but as stuff is restocked, no prices.
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I always check the expiration dates on things when i buy them. Anywhere you shop they're supposed to put the older stuff towards the front and the new supply towards the back, but with milk and other perishables the old ones should be taken out when they're within a certain time of the expiration. Also the \"sell by\" and expiration dates are two different things. Sell by means they just have to get the stuff sold by that date or it gets tossed, but that doesn't mean it'll expire by that date. Best bet is just to take an extra 20 seconds with each item to see if it's going to expire soon.
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I can't say for certain how shelving schematics are laid out in New York, but I can tell you that in my area large companies have bought or been dedicated shelf space, and they dictate down to the store how many of, in what order, and what direction their products are facing on that shelf. Often they get X amount of advertising allowed there as well.
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It sounds more like an inexperienced clerk screwed up. Perishables tend to be stocked \"first in, first out\" with the dates facing the customers.
I certainly wouldn't expect this to be policy. People might end up turfing through the lot of them to find the freshest one, making a mess. Making sell-by dates visible would prevent that.
Why is this up here? Like OP said, old news. Maybe the stock person wanted all the missing faces to go one way. shrugs.
Ok a few misconceptions need to be cleared up. There is never an expiration date on milk or milk products. It is a sell by date. The milk will still be good for a week to ten days after the sell by date if handled properly (refrigerated, cap on etc). Even if the milk is past the sell by date and it starts to turn sour, it is not generally dangerous. It just tastes bad.
Well they also rotate stock properly to put the oldest stuff where it will be grabbed first. This isn't really all that dishonest. They want to get rid of product rather than destroying it. It's best with dairy not to buy much more than you'll finish in a couple days after opening anyway.
Feh. Dairy products are supposed to be edible for a full 7 days beyond the expiration date.
So if you know you will consume it before the 7 days are up, what harm is there? In my area, grocery stores always mark down the soon-to-expire milk the evening before. So if you go in at 11:00PM, milk that is set to \"expire\" at midnight is often marked down to 25 or 50 cents a gallon. I've come out of there with four or five bottles of the stuff and yes it does last a full 7 days beyond the printed date. No issues.
It can also be frozen. Or given to neighbors with kids. It's a great deal and nothing to worry about.
As far as the practice of putting the date toward the back of the rack, stores often \"face\" merchandise which is the practice of putting the label side facing out. On cans and round objects like 2-liter bottles, this means turning them to show the right side to the buyer. On squared off milk jugs, that means the label faces out. If the date is on the back, then it's going to be facing away. The label will always come first if the stock person is doing their job.
yeah I realize I mean to say \"sell by date\" every time I said \"expiration\" date.
Just do the edit in your head that Consumerist won't let me do. :)
And go drink some milk! It's good stuff!
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It would be difficult to do that on the plastic jugs that all the milk comes in at my local supermarket (even the quart size) because they would have to put the jugs on the shelf backwards to hide the expiration date.
OK its been far too long without the obligatory.
I make my own milk at home when the neighbors wife is pregnant
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I've seen this practiced at a number of stores. I was a box boy in high school though, so have never fallen for this. My wife, unfortunately, has. Only the paranoid survive (or at least avoid drinking chunky milk).
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I have my Kevin Smith moment every time I buy milk.
milk is disgusting to drink.
I can eat ice cream sometimes and even some in my coffee but how anyone can drink that stuff is beyond me. When I do have it in my coffee I try and not think that its basically a shot of puss in my coffee.
But anyway EVERY store up here in Newfoundland, supermarkets etc all put the dates backward. Honestly I thought that was how they did it everywhere to sell the older stuff first.
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wow. that seems like it would have had to be intentional.
the store i most often shop at tends to take milk within 2-3 days of the sell by date and mark it down to $1 a gallon because they noticed that no one wants to buy milk with a couple of 'official' days left for full price.
in those cases, i'll buy one or two and whip up a huge batch of waffles and freeze them.
it would be great for large families who go through a lot of milk a week though
The milk we sold at the store where I used to work had the dates printed on the french side of the carton. Even though 2% is written the same way in both languages, people would either complain that the french side was out, or they'd complain that the dates were facing back. (And end up spinning all the cartons around themselves knocking most of them through the back of the cooler)
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especially if you shop at safeway in baltimore:)
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I would stay away from that grocery store. Milk expiry dates face customers over here but the ones expiring soon are obviously out in front and on the easy to reach levels. But then again, if you go through milk real fast, shouldn't be too bad to pick one that's expiring soon.
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I thought this was standard...whenever I go to the grocery store, I always have to take out a carton, look at the date, put it back and continue on...Sometimes I'll switch the cartons around with the date facing the customer if I'm really annoyed with them.
It's not only milk, but half & half, heavy whipping cream, buttermilk, etc.
Yes, I do see this sometimes. I usually find the shelf absolutely dishevelled when this happens, half of the dishevelling being done by yours truly to find the milk with the good dates.
I should say I don't see it happen repeatedly, though. Probably a new kid stocking the shelves who will get his ass chewed out by the night staff tomorrow for all the work he put them through.
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that depends, was the logo facing toward you and the date on the back of the carton?
It could be that customers like Matt are causing the problem. When he said \"Normally I scan through the dates on the visible cartons to find the freshest one...\"
it reminded me of when I was a milkman. One grocery store owner told me he was getting sour milk returned by some customers. This was before the date was put on the container.
He started watching the milk display and noticed customers would do like Matt does and reach to the back for the freshest. He then had the display loaded from the front. The customers who reached to the back were getting the oldest milk, and the sour milk stopped.
Milk is good for at least 10 days after the date on the container. That date is the last date it should be sold, not its expiration date. I have had milk hidden where I forgot about it 15-20 days after the date and it was still OK to drink.
Just think how much easier life would be if we didn't have so many Matts to mess it up.
Just now catching on to that eh?
yeah a lot of places do this unfortunately, including my local chain grocery stores. I always, at a minimum, tilt back the front two cartons 45 degrees then crane my neck slightly to be able to read the date,and take the latest one. if it's less than a week away, I remove the front cartons and reach for a fresher one.
where I live, the milk doesn't always even last til the expiration date for some reason, before starting to go bad which is completely bizarre to me. so I'm a bit careful with this stuff.
yeah a lot of places do this unfortunately, including my local chain grocery stores. I always, at a minimum, tilt back the front two cartons 45 degrees then crane my neck slightly to be able to read the date,and take the latest one. if it's less than a week away, I remove the front cartons and reach for a fresher one.
where I live, the milk doesn't always even last til the expiration date for some reason, before starting to go bad which is completely bizarre to me. so I'm a bit careful with this stuff.
Eh, another alarmist post hinting at some large conspiracy when its probably just some 16 year old's first day in the dairy department.
This post also assume you are an idiot and don't pull one off the shelf, look at the date, and then aren't free to put it back once you realize the sell-by date is tomorrow. Yes, you can do that.
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I've had this happened before and my boyfriend calls me the Milk Maid because I don't care if I have to turn around every carton of milk, I am going to get the one with the best date. :)
Never seen this. My local grocery's and chain stores (Walmart, Alberstons...) always put the expiry date the right way round.
A bigger problem is when the drivers turn off the refrigeration to save money on gas and then flick it on before the arrive to make the milk cold. It significantly reduces the time it remains fresh.