Shocking Supermarket Secrets!

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I was aware of most of that except the water spray ... that's just awful.

Thanks for posting this great information.
 
When I worked in a store with the automatic sprayers, that is something that they always got hit with during a health inspection. My current store still uses the old style hoses, and the water is FRESH.

Open cases shouldn't be a problem if load levels are observed. You'll often notice on the sides of the cases, there will be a mark for load levels, if items are piled too high or shelves that are installed are too deep protruding out past the load marks. Our store management as well as our health inspector are armed with laser temp guns to keep an eye on this stuff.
 
Thanks. I usually go to the back of the dairy case so I can grab the carton w/ the longest best buy date. Now I always will!

I'm amazed that everybody doesn't do this! I'm always worried that other shoppers or employees will call me out but it hasn't happened yet.

Just today I went through the salads at Fresh 'n Easy (crappy market) and found 3-4 sell-by dates, so I picked my Romaine with the latest date.

Same thing at Trader Joe's with their refrigerated nuke 'n puke dinners (microwave dinners). I always go to the back of the case and pick the latest sell-by.

And milk??? I'll look at every carton in the case to find the freshest one! ;)
 
Greg Who Cooks said:
I'm amazed that everybody doesn't do this! I'm always worried that other shoppers or employees will call me out but it hasn't happened yet.

Just today I went through the salads at Fresh 'n Easy (crappy market) and found 3-4 sell-by dates, so I picked my Romaine with the latest date.

Same thing at Trader Joe's with their refrigerated nuke 'n puke dinners (microwave dinners). I always go to the back of the case and pick the latest sell-by.

And milk??? I'll look at every carton in the case to find the freshest one! ;)

I work in a grocery store and do the same thing. I've been known to go in the back dairy cooler (in my store) looking for a better date....
 
I also always reach to the back for all dairy products, sour cream etc., especially the cottage cheese. It seems to go off very quickly. I didn't know about the mold etc on the misters. I'll have to go back & listen again about the point they were trying to make about fish.
 
I've found this particularly with dairy products. I'm buying for one person and I consume an average amount of diary products, but even in reasonable sized containers (I never buy milk in gallons) I find that it's a race to consume my dairy products before they go sour. I always reach for the back of the shelf and I scour the sell-by dates until I find the freshest. (I'm tempted to go into the employee area!)

A few times in some of those double side refrigerators (increasingly obsolete) where the employees stocked the shelves from within the refrigerated area (walk in refrigerator) I've been embarrassed to be reaching for containers almost at the same time as the employee was loading them up. I'm glad the design wasn't conducive to eye-to-eye contact!
 
I also reach to the back for colder items.

I'm annoyed by the vegetable sprayers because the wet produce deterioriates faster at home so you're obligated to dry and re-package your greens when you get home.

When I'm loading the conveyor belt at checkout, I avoid wet spots. Produce and meats are always in plastic bags.

I have a real issue with poultry packages that leak meat juices. Knowing about salmonella (intimately) I feel contaminated when I pick up a chicken and the package is wet. It goes into a plastic bag and I make use of the hand sanitizer stand in the supermarket.
 
Cerise said:
I also always reach to the back for all dairy products, sour cream etc., especially the cottage cheese. It seems to go off very quickly. I didn't know about the mold etc on the misters. I'll have to go back & listen again about the point they were trying to make about fish.

+1

One of our local grocery stores is not good about pulling expired dairy, we have to be vigilant.
 
i like to take milk from the back of the shelves, then put containers from the front of the shelf in the back just to even things out. :angel:
 
I guess I won't be running through the sprinklers in the Produce section on a hot day anymore. :LOL:
 
I've found this particularly with dairy products. I'm buying for one person and I consume an average amount of diary products, but even in reasonable sized containers (I never buy milk in gallons) I find that it's a race to consume my dairy products before they go sour. I always reach for the back of the shelf and I scour the sell-by dates until I find the freshest. (I'm tempted to go into the employee area!)

A few times in some of those double side refrigerators (increasingly obsolete) where the employees stocked the shelves from within the refrigerated area (walk in refrigerator) I've been embarrassed to be reaching for containers almost at the same time as the employee was loading them up. I'm glad the design wasn't conducive to eye-to-eye contact!

I reach back there & try to shake his hand. lol.
 
I also reach to the back for colder items.

I'm annoyed by the vegetable sprayers because the wet produce deterioriates faster at home so you're obligated to dry and re-package your greens when you get home.

When I'm loading the conveyor belt at checkout, I avoid wet spots. Produce and meats are always in plastic bags.

I have a real issue with poultry packages that leak meat juices. Knowing about salmonella (intimately) I feel contaminated when I pick up a chicken and the package is wet. It goes into a plastic bag and I make use of the hand sanitizer stand in the supermarket.

I'm not crazy about paying for the extra water weight sprayed on the produce @ whatever/pound...
 
It's been so hot here. I did wonder why they kept kicking me out of the broccoli.
 
I'm not crazy about paying for the extra water weight sprayed on the produce @ whatever/pound...

Where we shop, it's the greens that are sprayed. They are priced by the unit rather than weight. Lettuce by heads, scallions, parsley, cilantro by the bunch, etc.
 
I also reach to the back for colder items.

I'm annoyed by the vegetable sprayers because the wet produce deterioriates faster at home so you're obligated to dry and re-package your greens when you get home.

When I'm loading the conveyor belt at checkout, I avoid wet spots. Produce and meats are always in plastic bags.

I have a real issue with poultry packages that leak meat juices. Knowing about salmonella (intimately) I feel contaminated when I pick up a chicken and the package is wet. It goes into a plastic bag and I make use of the hand sanitizer stand in the supermarket.

Wow, I've done all that! All that!!!
 
I'm not crazy about paying for the extra water weight sprayed on the produce @ whatever/pound...

I shake off my wet vegetables too. Partly because I don't want their sick water on my greens, but I imagine from time to time I save a cent or two. It may add up over a long time, but just the principle of paying money for water makes me mad.
 
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Where we shop, it's the greens that are sprayed. They are priced by the unit rather than weight. Lettuce by heads, scallions, parsley, cilantro by the bunch, etc.

Lucky you, a head of iceberg lettuce that's been sprayed weighs a lot. Most of the lettuces and greens are sold here by the pound and sprayed.
 
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