Meat in co-op

[kittysailing]

My husband went into to the co-op on Lordship lane and bought some meat from chilled cabinet . When he got to the till the cashier asked him if he was planning to eat the meat today. When he asked why that was relevant he was told that the fridges had gone off overnight and they weren't sure how long the fridges had been off. My husband asked to speak to th manager and told him it was dangerous to sell meat that had not been in the fridge - they said they were in the process of throwing some of it away. Don't buy meat from there today!

[Louisa]

That's absolutely disgusting. Thanks for providing this information for us. I've NEVER felt comfortable buying meat in that supermarket, or indeed fish. Seems awful to think, that they could continue to sell produce that has been outside of a fridge for an unknown period, and not remove it from sale. I do hope your husband didn't buy this meat, and I would suggest if he did he does not eat it and that you retain the receipt and contact the Co-Op customer care line asap, informing then of this situation.

Louisa.

[kittysailing]

He didn't buy the meat and told them in no uncertain terms that they shouldn't be selling potentially poisonous meat.

[yeknomyeknom]

They have a mouse problems too. Ive twice bought bread with nibbles through the bags before I gave up shopping there.

[DulwichFox]

Meat and Fish in the Co-Op is very poor quality, as is their Potatoes and other Vegetables.

Much of the produce is marked up as Use by the same day you are buying.

A lot of the items are marked as Reduced.

I have had to take Fish (Sea Bass) back that was rotten when I opened it even though on that occasion

there were still a couple of days left till Use By Date.

.. and I would like to add it was out of their fridges and in my fridge with in 15 mins.

M&S on the other hand despite being now only marginally more expensive than The Co-Op is far superior

Prices in the Co-Op have risen and the quality has declined. There seems to be no management in attendance

most of the time. Occasionally the 'Suits' will be floating around with clipboards and staff running around

like Blue A*** Flies.

The Co-Op should close down.

DulwichFox

[Nigello]

The CoOp (LL and FHR) both have chilled cabinets that fail to shut properly. When I query it, they always come along with a key and then - hey presto - the doors slide together as they ought to. They keep them slid back because it is easier for them to load and stack. Not great for your food or the environment (which I pointed out).

That said, I think the CoOp's revamp/rebrand (just bringing back the '60s colour and livery, in effect) is good. The charity work they do (via the CoOp membership) is to be lauded and now the M and S is open it is rarely busy.

[KrackersMaracas]

I've had problems with meat from here in the past and will not buy it from here again - some chicken (within date) which when home & opened smelled horribly of urea - a sharp, stinging smell which made the whole kitchen smell. I'm not quite sure where the problem with preserving fresh food would lie (it may not necessarily be the store itself)... but a few months ago went back to do a quick shop (have been wary of the meat/fish ever since...). Checking out the yogurt I found several that were still on sale despite having gone past their sell by date. When I got to the cashier I was told that staff were making their way round to reduce the items and would pick the food which had exceeded use by date in due course.... I said that wasn't the point - food should not be sold PST the date on the label... the cashier didn't seem bothered.

I've come to the conclusion that there is poor management and food hygiene at the store and I tend to avoid wherever possible. As DF pointed out, M&S is close, and so much nicer for only a small increase in price, and I know what I buy will be fresh. It can be hard to find certain brands, in which case I'll pop up to Organic Village, which has a great selection of fruit and veg as well as lots of interesting "store cupboard" options.

[dbboy]

Thanks, useful to know.

[KidKruger]

Commercial suicide by the co-op is this.

[JoeLeg]

I haven't purchased anything that wasn't a brand name and in a secure form, such as a tin of Heinz beans or some such, from Co Op in a long time, for all the reasons listed above (M+S does it all better, not that I shop there much either), but even so I'm amazed/shocked at the above.

How they didn't just pull it all and bin it is beyond me. On the thankfully very rare occasions that I've had a fridge go down overnight at work, whatever the cause, anything classified as medium or high risk goes straight in the bin. You can't put a price on the risk.

Really shocking.

[dbboy]

Have highlighted the issues to my contact at the Coop.

[atrain82]

On Friday I went into the coop and saw this packet of mango on the shelf - note it's essentially self-smoothies itself. As well it should - it's a month and a half out of date

[Robert Poste's Child]

Use by 25 March? OM holy G.

[aguacate]

Ring HQ customer services (Freephone 0800 0686 727)They have been responsive when I have rang them to complain in the past. Many of their stores are franchised I think and very poorly managed. It is a pity as I agree they do good work and they are more ethical than other big supermarkets.

[alex_b]

Has anyone reported this to Southwark Environmental Health.

[Beulah]

I've forwarded them a link to this thread.

Would suggest anyone with personal experiences - especially "mango self-smoothie"! - contact them in person.

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/business/trading-standards-and-food-safety/food-safety-hygiene-and-standards/food-safety-enforcement

[dbboy]

Dear,

Many thanks indeed for letting me know of a message posted on the East Dulwich forum regarding our Lordship Lane store. This incident is very serious indeed and I've just been discussing it in detail with our Lordship Lane store manager.

Our Lordship Lane store manager tells me that the fridges containing meat in this store did break down on the evening of Saturday 11 June and that, as soon as he became aware of this, he instructed all our Lordship Lane store staff not to sell any of the meat from the chillers to any customers and to dispose of it all as quickly as possible. I told the manager this was at odds with what had been stated on the forum. The manager stated that, to his knowledge, none of the meat from the broken down chillers was sold to any customer and that it was all disposed of as soon as possible after he became aware of the breakdown.

The store manager tells me that the meat fridges are now repaired and working as they should.

Many thanks indeed for bringing this most serious incident to my attention.

Kind regards,

John Robinson

Customer Careline

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[daveybigpotatoes]

Both the FHR and LL Co-ops are dreadfully managed shops. Dirty, fridges often broken, stock issues. I really feel for their staff as they always seem to have too much to do.

The FHR store is my nearest shop but I nearly always walk to the Sainsbury's on LL as they are chalk and cheese.

[[email protected]]

Bias, but find amazing having read this thread that this is coming from a chain that has or will be putting a stop to Irish meat shortly, due to Brexit!

Poison your own before supporting them ? I am gone Marks ....