FairPrice shopper sees festive snacks on sale for $1 — then realises ‘best before’ date was last month
A customer spotted honey cakes on sale at FairPrice’s Old Airport Road outlet, only to realise that they were already past their ‘best before’ date.
Stomper Lion said he was shopping in the supermarket with his wife on April 11 at around 10pm when they saw the goods on a shelf. He was shocked when he took a closer look at the product labels.
Photos he shared show containers of honey cakes going for $1 each, with labels listing a ‘best before’ date of March 30. The containers were displayed alongside other festive goods that were also on promotion.
Lion said it was the first time he had encountered such an incident.
“Anyone could have bought the honey cakes and consumed them without checking the date,” added the concerned Stomper.
Lion also noted that the honey cakes, a festive snack commonly sold during Chinese New Year, were likely intended for clearance sale.
According to the price tag, each container of honey cakes was 250g and originally cost $6.20. The $1 promotion was set to run until April 30 — a month after the products’ ‘best before’ date.
“Luckily my wife and I spotted them and got them removed,” said Lion, who shared a photo of a staff member removing the honey cakes from their shelf and placing them into a shopping basket.
Investigations ongoing: FairPrice
In response to Stomp’s queries, a FairPrice Group spokesperson said the affected products were immediately removed from the supermarket’s shelves.
According to the spokesperson, investigations into how the incident occurred are still ongoing.
“Shoppers can return affected products to the same store of purchase with their receipt for a full refund,” the spokesperson added.
‘Best before’ date vs expiry date
According to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), labels reflecting ‘use by’, ‘expiry date’, ‘best before’ or ‘sell by’ are important indications of when the food might start to lose its freshness and quality. It is illegal to sell food past its expiry date.
The Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association said a ‘best before’ date is akin to a recommendation based on the manufacturer’s experience. After the date, the food could still be edible but might have lost its texture or flavour.
Meanwhile, ‘expire by’ and ‘use by’ date marks can be taken as “hard deadlines” for food safety, after which a product might be contaminated.
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