So unsettling.
Ok, I had to steal my mom's computer for a moment to post about this because... I just had to.
I spoke with my aunt today and she told me a pretty disturbing story about her local Stop & Shop store. (This is a regional supermarket chain - the largest in New England, if I'm not mistaken.)
Yesterday she went to her local Stop & Shop and, among other things, bought a container of the Stop & Shop potato salad from the deli counter. When she opened it up at home and she and my uncle tried some, they could tell something was clearly wrong with it. The salt content was so high that they couldn't even keep it in their mouths long enough to chew and swallow and it tasted "off." So she closed the container and sent my uncle back to the store with it and the receipt to get her money back.
My uncle went to the customer service desk and explained what had happened. The girl behind the desk apologized and gave him his money back. He told her that she should really alert the deli to the issue because when my aunt bought it, they had just brought out a brand new batch of it and the entire batch may be contaminated. The girl seemed to blow him off, or he certainly felt like she did. So he decided to go linger around the deli for a moment to see if anyone came over and switched out the potato salad.
A few minutes later, the girl from the customer service desk approached the deli with the container of potato salad he had just returned. He didn't hear what she said to the deli employee she spoke with, but she seemed to have a few words with him and then handed over the container.
The deli employee proceeded to open it, dump the potato salad back into the batch inside the case, and continue serving customers.
Cue me being HORRIFIED.
Not only did they not check to see if something was wrong with the potato salad they've been serving, but they put back potato salad that had LEFT THE BUILDING AND BEEN IN SOMEONE'S HOME with the intention of re-selling it.
My aunt is, of course, alerting corporate managers as well as the state health department. We'll see what comes of it.
I will not be shopping at Stop & Shop anymore, as I sincerely doubt this was the error of a lone employee. I understand that in the current economic climate, loss is a big deal for businesses and I have heard stories of as well as worked under managements that have asked employees to cut unsafe corners in order save money. (I know of a local grocery store who tells their staff to stock product even if it's past the expiration date because it's the consumer's responsibility to check the date before consumption, not theirs.) There are intimidation factors involved where employees are scared to throw away product because if a manager sees it, they get in trouble.
Even if this is not the case, the absolute best case scenario is that they are not training their employees in food safety and not regulating what is happening in their own deli. Either way, that makes it a dangerous place to shop.
Why can't anyone just do their job correctly? Especially where it concerns health and safety! It's just so disturbing.
I spoke with my aunt today and she told me a pretty disturbing story about her local Stop & Shop store. (This is a regional supermarket chain - the largest in New England, if I'm not mistaken.)
Yesterday she went to her local Stop & Shop and, among other things, bought a container of the Stop & Shop potato salad from the deli counter. When she opened it up at home and she and my uncle tried some, they could tell something was clearly wrong with it. The salt content was so high that they couldn't even keep it in their mouths long enough to chew and swallow and it tasted "off." So she closed the container and sent my uncle back to the store with it and the receipt to get her money back.
My uncle went to the customer service desk and explained what had happened. The girl behind the desk apologized and gave him his money back. He told her that she should really alert the deli to the issue because when my aunt bought it, they had just brought out a brand new batch of it and the entire batch may be contaminated. The girl seemed to blow him off, or he certainly felt like she did. So he decided to go linger around the deli for a moment to see if anyone came over and switched out the potato salad.
A few minutes later, the girl from the customer service desk approached the deli with the container of potato salad he had just returned. He didn't hear what she said to the deli employee she spoke with, but she seemed to have a few words with him and then handed over the container.
The deli employee proceeded to open it, dump the potato salad back into the batch inside the case, and continue serving customers.
Cue me being HORRIFIED.
Not only did they not check to see if something was wrong with the potato salad they've been serving, but they put back potato salad that had LEFT THE BUILDING AND BEEN IN SOMEONE'S HOME with the intention of re-selling it.
My aunt is, of course, alerting corporate managers as well as the state health department. We'll see what comes of it.
I will not be shopping at Stop & Shop anymore, as I sincerely doubt this was the error of a lone employee. I understand that in the current economic climate, loss is a big deal for businesses and I have heard stories of as well as worked under managements that have asked employees to cut unsafe corners in order save money. (I know of a local grocery store who tells their staff to stock product even if it's past the expiration date because it's the consumer's responsibility to check the date before consumption, not theirs.) There are intimidation factors involved where employees are scared to throw away product because if a manager sees it, they get in trouble.
Even if this is not the case, the absolute best case scenario is that they are not training their employees in food safety and not regulating what is happening in their own deli. Either way, that makes it a dangerous place to shop.
Why can't anyone just do their job correctly? Especially where it concerns health and safety! It's just so disturbing.