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Buying fruit and veg in Aldi/Lidl

  • 04-04-2012 9:50am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 36


    On a budget, the fruit and veg offers in both places are very tempting, but has anyone any idea of how safe this stuff is? I picked up a packet of cherry tomatoes in Aldi the other day, and the expiry date was mid June, this can't be good? Should I avoid cheap veg?


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 1,585 ✭✭✭lynski


    we have been buying from there for years now, no worries. AFAIK they use exactly the same suppliers as the other multiples. I have seen trucks for the main suppliers - name escapes me - deliver to my local aldi.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,818 ✭✭✭Gauge


    I buy pretty much all my fruit and veg in Aldi or Lidl. Never had a problem. Usually of better quality than the Super Valu across the road...


  • Registered Users Posts: 36 Rebellious Jukebox


    lynski wrote: »
    we have been buying from there for years now, no worries. AFAIK they use exactly the same suppliers as the other multiples. I have seen trucks for the main suppliers - name escapes me - deliver to my local aldi.

    thanks

    That's kind of a reflief, but shouldn't life expectency on picked fruit be a lot shorter? I'm thinking maybe I should completely re think where I get my fruit and veg?


  • Registered Users Posts: 28,668 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    I've never seen ANY useby/sellby/bestbefore dates on veg from Lidl or Aldi! So I just have to guess the freshness by eye, but I find the quality in general a lot better than most of the major supermarkets.

    I'm a big fan.


  • Registered Users Posts: 36 Rebellious Jukebox


    HeidiHeidi wrote: »
    I've never seen ANY useby/sellby/bestbefore dates on veg from Lidl or Aldi!

    It's there! It gives the month and date, but not the year. You could miss it, as it just looks like a code. The manager pointed it out to me yesterday, as I was frustrated with what I thought was a lack of one.

    For exapmle, it looked like this on the tomatoes in question "1806"


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  • Registered Users Posts: 13,687 ✭✭✭✭wonski


    lynski wrote: »
    we have been buying from there for years now, no worries. AFAIK they use exactly the same suppliers as the other multiples. I have seen trucks for the main suppliers - name escapes me - deliver to my local aldi.

    Iverk and Donnelys supply for Aldi, and some smaller, too. Irish suppliers anyway, and pretty much the same you get elsewhere in Ireland.

    Also, never noticed use by date on vegs, but will check again next time

    BTW Aldi are doing super6, incl. salad tomatoes for 29c, hard to be beaten on that price...


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,585 ✭✭✭lynski


    it is often worth ignoring the specials as the main stock is so reasonable.
    for instance the have organic bananas for 1.49 for 6, much less then anywhere else, and on a par with non-organic is most places.
    also in my experience a best before date on fruit does not mean a thing. if you house is warm things will ripen faster, one apple can be riper then another from the same branch, etc.

    in my house the children eat so much fruit that i never even consider bbd as they wont last that long.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,743 ✭✭✭blatantrereg


    The country of origin usually seems hard to find on the label. It is actually there, just non-obvious.

    Personally I avoid produce from China. Questionable practices appear to be the norm from what I've read: >40% of the population are infested with parasites, >10% of the agricultural land contains heavy metals, foreign nationals/agencies are banned from inspecting their food production - the list goes on.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_safety_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China

    That means I dont buy garlic in Aldi. I get most of my vegetables there though.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,407 ✭✭✭Cardinal Richelieu


    The country of origin usually seems hard to find on the label. It is actually there, just non-obvious.

    Personally I avoid produce from China. Questionable practices appear to be the norm from what I've read: >40% of the population are infested with parasites, >10% of the agricultural land contains heavy metals, foreign nationals/agencies are banned from inspecting their food production - the list goes on.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_safety_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China

    That means I dont buy garlic in Aldi. I get most of my vegetables there though.

    I have to say thats a crock of farm manure, multinationals inspect Chinese farms and products and with the child milk scare the Chinese government has gone to town on dodgy practices.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,407 ✭✭✭Cardinal Richelieu


    It's there! It gives the month and date, but not the year. You could miss it, as it just looks like a code. The manager pointed it out to me yesterday, as I was frustrated with what I thought was a lack of one.

    For exapmle, it looked like this on the tomatoes in question "1806"

    Could you take a pic of the label and post it? It sounds strange to be that long for fruit and veg. Sometimes grower numbers are printed on labels for traceability.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,818 ✭✭✭Gauge


    I did a quick Google and according to an Aldi employee, the code refers to the week (Week 18 = the week of April 30th to May 6th) and the day of the week (Day 6 = Saturday).

    But I wouldn't place much value on the best before dates of fresh fruit... to be honest it's never really something I considered before and I don't have a problem with fruit or veg spoiling. On top of that, Aldi have a very high turnover of fruit and veg.... if I go in the evening there's usually nothing left, so I doubt there's anything that's been sitting around the shop for very long...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,743 ✭✭✭blatantrereg


    I have to say thats a crock of farm manure, multinationals inspect Chinese farms and products and with the child milk scare the Chinese government has gone to town on dodgy practices.
    Is it though? Here is the source for the comment you highlighted from my post:

    http://www.alternet.org/environment/94146/is_your_organic_food_really_organic/
    Since the Chinese government does not allow foreigners to inspect Chinese farms, an extra step is involved for oversight of organics from China: Chinese companies, which are allowed to inspect Chinese farms, subcontract with foreign ACAs. Cummins believes "the safest course of action is ... to say we won't certify imports from China because their law won't allow inspections."

    Here is a list of food safety incidents in China:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_safety_incidents_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China

    The land in China in general is not ideal for agriculture. This means increased use of pesticides etc to yield good results.

    The most shocking factor is the prevalence of ascaris (giant roundworm) in the Chinese population. 47% according to this medical journal. Ascaris infestation occurs as a result of eating food which has been contaminated with human faeces. It is prevalent in countries with bad practices regarding sanitation and ones where human faeces is used as fertiliser. Aside from an indicator of these things, ascaris infestation itself is a serious concern. It can occasionally cause organ failure, blindness or death - and often is not diagnosed until one of these occurs. Even when apparently asymptomatic it can effect growth, energy, digestion and adequate nutrition. Aside from competing with the host for nutrients, it releases a chemical that actively blocks the digestion of certain proteins (this is how it is not digested itself).


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,687 ✭✭✭✭wonski


    It's there! It gives the month and date, but not the year. You could miss it, as it just looks like a code. The manager pointed it out to me yesterday, as I was frustrated with what I thought was a lack of one.

    For exapmle, it looked like this on the tomatoes in question "1806"

    Yep, you are right, but i checked yesterday and all had codes 1406 and 1407 (including cherry tomatoes), didn't see 18XX, so it could have been mistake in printing, maybe?
    Anyway it is probably display until date, as DU abb is over that code, and think it has more to do with shelf life of the product, and, as it is delivered daily to the stores, it shouldn't affect customers at all.


  • Registered Users Posts: 36 Rebellious Jukebox


    Gauge wrote: »
    I did a quick Google and according to an Aldi employee, the code refers to the week (Week 18 = the week of April 30th to May 6th) and the day of the week (Day 6 = Saturday).

    But I wouldn't place much value on the best before dates of fresh fruit... to be honest it's never really something I considered before and I don't have a problem with fruit or veg spoiling. On top of that, Aldi have a very high turnover of fruit and veg.... if I go in the evening there's usually nothing left, so I doubt there's anything that's been sitting around the shop for very long...

    Hey, that's great, the manager I asked obviously got a little confused.

    Last Thursday I bought deliicous oranges in Superquinn, 2.99 for the bag, by Sunday one of them was mouldy. There are satsumas from Aldi that I bought several weeks ago in the fruit bowl and they show no signs of having aged, and taste wise they really aren't up to much. This is my worry, that the good quality more expensive stuff is real fruit, and the cheap stuff is destroyed with additives to make it last longer


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,676 ✭✭✭strandroad


    Hey I have some mandarins I got in Superquinn weeks ago and they are still there in their basket - were too nasty to eat. No mould. So I don't think Superquinn can save you, they all use the same suppliers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 21 seanyroche


    hi does anyone know how to trace the codes on the aldi lables? i got baby corn and all it says is origin: various which isnt much help in knowing where your food is from. supplier code 1430 x 33 no doubt a GMO farm as a lot of corn now is geneticly modified for better yeilds and worsing health.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,624 ✭✭✭wmpdd3


    Afaik, the country of origin must be displayed on all produce, but it may be on the case the product is in. Its usually on a white card inserted into a sleeve under the handle on the crate.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,407 ✭✭✭Cardinal Richelieu


    wmpdd3 wrote: »
    Afaik, the country of origin must be displayed on all produce, but it may be on the case the product is in. Its usually on a white card inserted into a sleeve under the handle on the crate.

    Something Lidl isn't good at, country of origin should be in view but often you have to lift up the box to look at the country of origin on the side. Sometimes they write the country of origin on the price sign.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,407 ✭✭✭Cardinal Richelieu


    seanyroche wrote: »
    hi does anyone know how to trace the codes on the aldi lables? i got baby corn and all it says is origin: various which isnt much help in knowing where your food is from. supplier code 1430 x 33 no doubt a GMO farm as a lot of corn now is geneticly modified for better yeilds and worsing health.

    They are required by law to have a traceability system in place do they aren't required to make that public to members of the public. Would Intel be happy to tell its customers all its suppliers? I don't think so, its commercial sensitive information.

    Fyffes has an app on some of it products that it supplies to Dunnes that you can scan the product to see the supplier but I think that's more marketing than actually kept updated by their technical people. I could be wrong, has anyone ever tried the app out?

    lecraicbarcode.jpg


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,407 ✭✭✭Cardinal Richelieu


    Is it though? Here is the source for the comment you highlighted from my post:

    http://www.alternet.org/environment/94146/is_your_organic_food_really_organic/



    Here is a list of food safety incidents in China:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_safety_incidents_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China

    The land in China in general is not ideal for agriculture. This means increased use of pesticides etc to yield good results.

    Yes I can see that having the largest population in the world equates to having bad agriculture land......:rolleyes:
    The most shocking factor is the prevalence of ascaris (giant roundworm) in the Chinese population. 47% according to this medical journal. Ascaris infestation occurs as a result of eating food which has been contaminated with human faeces. It is prevalent in countries with bad practices regarding sanitation and ones where human faeces is used as fertiliser. Aside from an indicator of these things, ascaris infestation itself is a serious concern. It can occasionally cause organ failure, blindness or death - and often is not diagnosed until one of these occurs. Even when apparently asymptomatic it can effect growth, energy, digestion and adequate nutrition. Aside from competing with the host for nutrients, it releases a chemical that actively blocks the digestion of certain proteins (this is how it is not digested itself).

    Some interesting results, increased ascaris in a population has a correlation with decreased asthma. Here in the west we have reduced ascaris rates but higher asthma rates than China.


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