colhint Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I don't think its that at all, If the Supermarket throw it away it's because there is something wrong with it, who knows, out of code, gone off, or it might be contaminated in someway. Maybe cleaning fluid, bleach etc on it. Well in todays world, it would be straight onto a no win, no fee Lawyer and all the bad publicity that goes with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mockingbird_franklin Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I don't think its that at all, If the Supermarket throw it away it's because there is something wrong with it, who knows, out of code, gone off, or it might be contaminated in someway. Maybe cleaning fluid, bleach etc on it. Well in todays world, it would be straight onto a no win, no fee Lawyer and all the bad publicity that goes with that. ah so it's an altruistic prosecution for the good of the accused, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I think Col is on to something there, now he's mentioned that I'm sure I've seen it quoted as a reason by a shop previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) I don't think its that at all, If the Supermarket throw it away it's because there is something wrong with it, who knows, out of code, gone off, or it might be contaminated in someway. Maybe cleaning fluid, bleach etc on it. Well in todays world, it would be straight onto a no win, no fee Lawyer and all the bad publicity that goes with that. What? If it would be 'straight on to' then why isn't it 'straight on to'? Supermarkets waste produce (that is perfectly acceptable for consumption) - sometimes for no other reason than the sale of the product doesn't comply with their company policy about 'dates'. Edited January 28, 2014 by snowychap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) Yes I know they do, but they have ordering mechanisms in place to keep that to a minimum as best they can. Now if One of the staff throw away a load of veg, then another staff member chucks 3 split packs of slug repellent into the same bin. Then someone takes the food from the bin and gets poisoned, what do you think would happen next. I think the prosecution here is to reduce the risk of them being taken to court. Edited January 28, 2014 by colhint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I don't think its that at all, If the Supermarket throw it away it's because there is something wrong with it, who knows, out of code, gone off, or it might be contaminated in someway. Maybe cleaning fluid, bleach etc on it. Well in todays world, it would be straight onto a no win, no fee Lawyer and all the bad publicity that goes with that. Supermarkets throw away large amounts of food. It's not because it's got bleach on it (odd idea) but because it was unsold by the sell-by date. They don't like attention being drawn to this. Bad PR. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Supermarkets don't want people taking perfectly good food that they can't sell out of the bin 'round the back, they want them to buy the stuff in the shop. Were these guys making a principled point about food waste, or were they hungry and skint as millions are in this age of food banks? Doing them for theft is heavy handed beyond belief IMO. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mockingbird_franklin Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) well in world without vexatious prosecutions, you'd say they only had themselves to blame if they stole and ate contaminated food and that would be the end of the matter, however to be sure you have covered all the bases, you maybe could bring into question the reasons why they feel the need to steal waste food which is possibly contaminated with harmful chemicals, maybe if it's caused by ideological driven persecution of the poor, sick, disabled and unemployed you could easily conclude those behind such actions should shoulder some if not a majority of the blame and prosecute them instead. Edited January 28, 2014 by mockingbird_franklin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yes I know they do, but they have ordering mechanisms in place to keep that to a minimum as best they can. Do they? It's anecdotal but the people I know who work in that environment would say that's a load of old cobblers. Now if One of the staff throw away a load of veg, then another staff member chucks 3 split packs of slug repellent into the same bin. Then someone takes the food from the bin and gets poisoned, what do you think would happen next. I think the prosecution here is to reduce the risk of them being taken to court. Though I disagree with you (for reasons stated above in other responses), it's interesting that you come to the same conclusion - that the CPS statement is a pile of turd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mockingbird_franklin Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) hmmm, quoting myself, must be going a bit IDS I'll be voting next, Edited January 28, 2014 by mockingbird_franklin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Not very good PR for Iceland. 'You can bloody well buy your food like everyone else, if you can't TOUGH! We're not a **** charity! What kind of world are we living in when a business is so focused on profit it comes down hard on hungry people rummaging through its bins. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 No It's not very good PR for iceland, but what would be a lot worse and a lot more expensive would be a death and a court case. As for the ordering mechanisms, I used to sell them all over the world. They are not cheap but they do work. Anyway to the point at issue. I am sure plenty of people would not try taking them to court if there was something wrong with the food. But It only takes 1 person to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Very unlikely that the food would be contaminated. It would have all been in its plastic and cardboard. I don't think that's a motivator here for Iceland, though I can see it being something they would argue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Retailers have been known to pour bleach over food they chuck out to deter scavengers. Not sure if these were the large retailers or independents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) As for the ordering mechanisms, I used to sell them all over the world. They are not cheap but they do work.I don't want to bring your salesmanship in to question but whatever your worldwide reach with the 'mechanisms' you sold, plenty of retailers fail to order effectively and thus find themselves with wasteage as a real problem.That may be because they didn't buy your ordering 'mechanism' or it may be that JIT (or nearly JIT) systems are very fragile when it comes to seasonal, short shelf life consumables (or also non realized 'promotion' sales).Anyway to the point at issue. I am sure plenty of people would not try taking them to court if there was something wrong with the food. But It only takes 1 person to do so.It would only take one person to die from ingestion of an intentionally contaminated piece of discarded food for most other people to be put off 'skipping'. Edited January 28, 2014 by snowychap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Very unlikely that the food would be contaminated. It would have all been in its plastic and cardboard. I don't think that's a motivator here for Iceland, though I can see it being something they would argue. What food in a bin couldn't be contaminated? Get real. Most food that goes into the bins will the short life stuff like bread and fruit and veg. The stuff that gets damaged will be sold at reduced prices. You can see these in an area in any Supermarket. They can still sell it legally. What they cant sell is the split packs where it will be below the stated weight. So a great deal in the bin will be open to the elements. So going back to my original point The fresh stuff gets thrown out daily, then the breakages, whether that be food or non food. It all goes to the same bins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I worked in a supermarket once, on nights. In fact it was my job to waste food that could not be sold after midnight. You can go to any supermarket yard up and down the country at 6am and you will find a weeks worth of perfectly good food in the bins. Occasionally a yoghurt pack might be leaking and the contents might look mankey, but it will be perfectly edible food. Nobody would take a soggy box of cakes that smelt of bleach. I think the motivation here is Iceland not wanting people to take the free stuff but buy from the shop. It's a bit heartless and just leaves a bad taste (pun intended) in my mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I don't think its that at all, If the Supermarket throw it away it's because there is something wrong with it, who knows, out of code, gone off, or it might be contaminated in someway. Maybe cleaning fluid, bleach etc on it. Well in todays world, it would be straight onto a no win, no fee Lawyer and all the bad publicity that goes with that. Supermarkets throw away large amounts of food. It's not because it's got bleach on it (odd idea) but because it was unsold by the sell-by date. They don't like attention being drawn to this. Bad PR. Why would you think that's odd Peter. They throw loads of stuff away, Yes. But they also have breakages, you must have seen the little signs they put up, " carefull spillage" whilst they mop up. What do you think they do with this broken glass, or bottles of cleaning stuff, or bleach etc. What do you think happens then. They put it in the bin. They don't look in the bin and say mmm there's some food in there, I'll leave this for another day. It goes in the bin regardless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I worked in a supermarket once, on nights. In fact it was my job to waste food that could not be sold after midnight. You can go to any supermarket yard up and down the country at 6am and you will find a weeks worth of perfectly good food in the bins. Occasionally a yoghurt pack might be leaking and the contents might look mankey, but it will be perfectly edible food. Nobody would take a soggy box of cakes that smelt of bleach. I think the motivation here is Iceland not wanting people to take the free stuff but buy from the shop. It's a bit heartless and just leaves a bad taste (pun intended) in my mouth. It was my line of work for 20 years, not in the Supermarket as such but the distribution network. I sold and implemented systems all over emea and the US. So yes I have seen all that and more. And I also agree that few would take a box of cakes dripping with bleach. But would someone pick up a lettuce not noticing the broken glass amongst the leaves, or a bunch of celery not noticing the slug repellent, or a piece of good old smelly gorgonzola, and not really notice the ammonia from l'oreal hair colours that had spilled on it. And if any of these things happened once would they then say, Oh well just my luck, its not really fair to take a big supermarket to court over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 (edited) And if any of these things happened once would they then say, Oh well just my luck, its not really fair to take a big supermarket to court overYou might like to look at that via the prism of reality rather than the history of your line of work in the US and beyond for those twenty years' previously. Edited January 28, 2014 by snowychap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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