MARTIN SLOANE \ Supermarket Shopper Age is vital factor with food products

When a grocery product does not taste as expected or perform in the usual way, you may be surprised to learn that the problem is old age.
Here's a story I recently received from Tina Ward of Walnut Ridge, Ariz.: "This past weekend I decided to use a Buitoni Focaccia bread mix and dumped the contents of the box on the kitchen counter. I noticed there was a recipe booklet. After I had put the focaccia in the oven I looked at the booklet and inside I found a coupon. I was pleased until I read the expiration date -- June 30, 2001! I sent an e-mail to the Nestl & eacute; company (the distributor of Buitoni) and gave them the code that was stamped on the top of the box."
Reply
The mix Tina bought was made long before June 2001. How could this happen? Here's the e-mail note Tina received from Nestl & eacute;:
"Dear Ms. Ward, Thank you for contacting us. We try to keep all of our products rotated at all times. We use the first-in, first-out method for handling inventories. Apparently, the products that were in the store when you made your purchase somehow got out of rotation. The Buitoni Focaccia Bread Mix you purchased is 39 months old. The product has a recommendation shelf life of 18 months. We appreciate the opportunity to explain how a situation like this can occur. Please accept the product replacement coupons we are sending to you via regular mail. Sincerely, Amy Jones, Consumer Response Representative."
The response from Nestl & eacute; is correct. Pallets of a product can be misplaced in a warehouse and may be overlooked for years. When misplaced merchandise is discovered, unless it is worn, bulging or leaking, it is returned to the rotation and winds up on supermarket shelves.
Tina's note continued: "I called the supermarket manager who claimed he had no idea what the codes mean, either! He said he would take all the Buitoni Focaccia mix off the shelves and replace them with new product. Needless to say, my Focaccia bread did not rise. The yeast was much too old!"
Should store managers know the dating codes for the products that do not have open dating? Several supermarket chains told me managers do not have dating code information.
"It changes often and is too difficult to keep up to date. But, we do have this information at our headquarters," said a chain representative.
Unrealistic
Even if store managers had codebooks, it is unrealistic to expect the store clerks who stock the shelves to take notice of the codes. Discovering a long-expired coupon inside a package does not happen often. The usual reason consumers want product-dating information is for when they are cleaning out their pantries and they find products they believe are very old. To trash it or not to trash it: that is the question.
Here is Tina's suggestion: "Why can't manufacturers put an actual 'packaged on' date instead of all this secret 'code' that the consumer has no idea what it means? If bread, eggs, dairy and meat are marked with dates consumers can understand, all the other foods should have easy to read dates as well."
The answer to that question is that companies can if they want to. Grocery product manufacturers have considered this and over the last two decades, there has been a trend to provide consumers with what is called "open dating." However, rather than tell the consumer when a product is packaged, the manufacturers think it is more useful to provide "best if used by" dates.
My jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce says, "Best if used by September 2003" (I will be using it very soon). The neckband of my bottle of Wish-Bone salad dressing says, "Better if used by FEB1704." Some manufacturers don't use the words best if used by, but provide an easily read use by date. My can of Campbell's Classics Vegetable Beef has "DEC 2004" on the lid (Campbell's soups have a two year shelf life, according to the Company). "O2MAY04" on a package of Haagen-Dazs ice cream bars is the best if used by date, although it doesn't say so. Many manufacturers don't want consumers to know when their products were packed and they do not want to indicate when the estimated useful shelf life is over.
"Our products have no expiration dates because they are perfectly safe to eat so long as the can is not leaking or bulging," said a Del Monte representative.
Call if in doubt
When in doubt about the age of a product my advice is, call the company at the toll-free telephone number shown on the product package. All of my calls (I did not identify myself as a journalist) resulted in courteous assistance in understanding that company's product codes. You can find product code information on my column support Web site: www.martinsloane.com.
XSend questions and comments to Martin Sloane in care of The Vindicator. The volume of mail precludes individual replies to every letter, but Martin Sloane will respond to letters of general interest in the column.
United Feature Syndicate