Check the date stamp on your kibble before buying

We wanted to change Marvel's kibble/dry food so I went to PAH to get him a new and better brand than the one he was on. I've had good experience with Royal Canin in the past so I went for it. It was on offer so I thought; great! Still £45 for a 15kg bag though.

Marvel has been on it for 1,5-2 weeks now and he has had runny droppings, he's been sick on occasion.. So we've tried to change portion sizes, meal times etc but it didn't change anything.

All of a sudden the boyfriend gets the bright idea to check the date on the bag. What do we see? It went off in January .
I wouldn't have a problem buying something for him that went off in for example two weeks time, as he could finish it before it was seriously off. But I don't like to give him something that's already been preserved for a while and now is "off" (I know dates are always before things get really bad, but still).

I've learnt now, ALWAYS check the date stamp on the dog food, and I just wanted to post this thread to maybe help someone else avoid making the same silly mistake .

Hi, I work for PAH. That is really crap and so sorry it gave your dog an upset tummy I'm assuming you also mixed it in with his previous kibble for a couple of weeks before completely switching over?

Go back into PAH with the bag and left overs and let them know. They might be able to sort something out for you.

Hi, we mixed it for a while until the other bag ran out, but I've never had anything make any of my dogs get a reaction like this.
Even in the future when we have just done a swap with no mixing it's been ok.

I might stop by PAH on Saturday but I'm leaving the country on Sunday so I don't know if I can be bothered (aaand I think my partner threw out the bag already, too efficient!).

It could just be that we've been very unlucy with the combination of the bag, the dog and other circumstances, but yeah.. definitely checking date stamps from now on .

Ah that's a shame. If you had the bag and the receipt they'd be able to give you a full refund.

Surely it is up to the consumer to check dates on ALL perishable goods they buy whether for themselves of their animals?

The decision to buy short dated goods/not check the dates by the purchaser cannot result in any refund as the store did NOTHING wrong.

It is not ILLEGAL to sell something that has not reached its SELL BY date.

What exactly did it say on the label?

Usually the label states "best before" which is an entirely different thing and does not mean the food has "gone off" only that it will be in optimum condition prior to that date.

It is perfectly SAFE to feed items which have passed their "best before" date.

I thought it was past a use by date then the seller had to advise of this ie- by a sign to say so? So the buyer knew what they were buying was not at it's optimum condition, I know it is up to us to check but I rarely do, I expect the staff in the shop to be regularly checking this for us?

I worked as a Quality Assurance Auditor in the food industry in the UK before moving to Cyprus.

I can assure you that most 'best before' dates err way on the side of safety (some of them - canned goods for instance - being ridiculous).

All dry ingredients used in food production have these dates and, when the date is up, it is quite usual to phone the manufacturer and ask for an 'extension' to the date for it to continue being used. And it is not unusual to get a SIX MONTH extension for whatever it is.

I do think it is highly unlikely that the date issue was the cause of your dog being ill. Not saying it wasn't the particular food or the changing of diet. But doubt very much it was to do with the date.

Working for PAH, I know in my store we check our products to ensure everything on the shelf is in date. This is part of our job. If we find a product that is past we will discount it or write it off depending on what it is.

smokeybear: I'm not really blaming them, I just think it was unneccessary and like I said, maybe my mistake can prevent someone else from making the same one.

I know in most EU contries the "sell by date" and the "best before" are very safe, most things last way over that date.

There was no sign other than the price, I was probably naive and thought shops have offers all the time for different reasons and not only because things are about to go over the sell by date/use by date. I worked in a pet shop before and we continuously rotated the older bags of food to the front to make sure they sold etc and I assume other shops do exactly the same thing.

I'm very little hysterical about date stamps, I eat things that are way over as long as they smell and taste alright, and I will never be obsessed with things Marvel eat.
Still I just felt it was annoying to get a bag I wouldn't have bought if I knew (and like I said.. I made a mistake and won't make the same one again).

Edit: petitsfilous: I don't feel like I wouldn't go there again, things happen and mistakes will always be made when lots of people work somewhere .

Well I think your using the words 'it went off' is what caused some to respond reassuring you.

Shops shouldn't sell stuff beyond its 'sell by' date - that's the law. But 'best by' or 'use by' is up to the customer to decide - it is not illegal to sell it.

I recently wanted some canned peaches here and was told they had them but couldn't sell them because they'd passed their sell by date. I just laughed and said I'd have them anyway. The guy gave me two lge cans for the price of one on the understanding that I don't tell his wife!

Bit like the steak I used to get from my butcher in Devon - the minute it started looking a 'bit dark' he'd reduce it as he said people didn't want it. It is actually more tender then (obviously I wouldn't buy anything that stank to high heaven!) so I got lots of good bargains as the customers mainly only wanted bright red meat.