selling gone off food.

one-angry-dwarf

I was in a shop today and sitting on the counter was a box full of chocolate bars marked 30cent. When i asked the guy why they were so cheap he replied "they're past their sell by date". They were roughly a month or so past, and i bought one, it tasted fine but it just got me wondering if it's actually legal to sell gone off food? anyone know?

sunbeam

Don't know, but I once bought one that was several months off (in a shop across the road from a hospital, conveniently enough).

It seemed normal, only noticed the wrapper when I'd finished it, suddenly felt queasy...

Makaveli

Chocolate bars are probably fine up to a year after the sell by date. That's all it is, a sell by date. It hasn't gone off.
As for legalities, I don't know for sure. Maybe if there's a notice telling customers that the product is past it's sell by date it's ok.

zeris

Having worked in a couple of shops, none would ever sell gone off food of any description (be it sweets, canned, fresh etc) if it was out of date.

Just looked at the FAQ on the Food Safety Authority:

Q. Is it acceptable for a food product past the “best before” date to be sold?
A. There is no legal requirement against pre-packaged foodstuffs being offered for sale on or after their “best before” date provided that the foodstuff still is in a fully acceptable condition. However, if the out of date stock is to be sold to the consumer, it is strongly advisable to indicate that the foodstuffs are past their best before date. This may assist in ensuring that the consumer is not misled as to the true nature of the product which is an offence.

On the other hand, foodstuffs with a “use by” date must not be offered for sale after this date due to the possible deterioration of these highly perishable products and the associated risk of illness, if they were to be consumed.

dudara

and chocolate doesn't come with a "use-by" date, just a best before.

Tesco and Dunnes often sell food coming up to it's sell-by date at a reduced price. But they all display two dates, the sell-by and the use-by.