American retailer, Target, is moving into Canada, taking over a bunch of Zellers stores, which were bought by the original Hudson Bay Company in 1978 – Canada, beaver, pelts, etc.
Maybe Target can get the dates right on the babyfood it sells.
Kitchener, Ontario, mother Melodie White filed a complaint with the federal food watchdog and the local public health unit after her six-month-old son, Gabriel, became sick over the May long weekend.
She bought several cans of baby food at the Zellers store in the Laurentian Power Center a few weeks ago without realizing they had expired last summer. White became alarmed after she fed the food to her son and he developed a fever and diarrhea, she said.
Her son was sick for about four days, she said.
To back up her claims, White returned to the same store and bought another six cans, all expired. Then she called the store to complain.
The store removed the expired baby food after being made aware of the problem. Inspectors from both the Region of Waterloo Public Health and the inspection agency also visited the Zellers store to make sure the expired baby food was off the shelves.
A new survey sponsored by ShelfLifeAdvice.com, a food storage reference website that estimates U.S. consumers unnecessarily discard billions of dollars of food a year, found that three in four U.S. consumers believe certain foods are unsafe to eat after the date on the packaging has passed.
But, according to Andy Miller of msnbc.com, experts say that if most foods are stored properly, they can be safe for days after the ‘use by’ date.
Ira Allen, a Food and Drug Administration spokesman, said the food date does not equate to safety, adding,
“If something is past its date, and stored properly, often it’s OK."
Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, said foods that can last far beyond an expiration date with proper storage include flour, sugar, rice and cake mixes, adding.
“There’s no reason that dry goods wouldn’t be safe except if it becomes wet.’’