Grocery chain Stop & Shop has been fined $75,000 for allegedly selling meat with the wrong expiration dates at stores in New Jersey.
Officials said the company was found to be systemically mislabeling and improperly handling beef and poultry products at all five of its stores in Ocean County.
The probe by the county’s Department of Consumer Affairs began after customers complained about buying expired meat at a Toms River location.
A subsequent investigation found that some of the products were “marked with dates indicating when they were put out for display rather than when they were actually packaged, creating the appearance of freshness well beyond the actual delivery dates,” county officials said in a press release.
Other items had been “stamped with extended expiration ranges” that exceeded the recommendations of the wholesalers.
“Investigators also learned that Stop & Shop had moved away from in-store butchers and was relying heavily on pre-packaged products prepared by off-site wholesalers,” the county said. “In one instance, a wholesale box delivered in February was not opened until March, yet was labeled as if it had been freshly packaged that day.”
Similar issues were found at another store in Toms River, as well as one each in Brick, Point Pleasant and Manchester.
On top of the $75,000 fine, the chain agreed to implement stricter safeguards to ensure proper labeling at all 46 of its New Jersey stores.
“This was a serious breach of consumer trust and confidence,” said Ronald Heinzman, director of Consumer Affairs. “[The department] took a strong position that this was an immediate public safety, health and welfare issue.”
The Ocean County Health Department assisted the investigation.
Stop & Shop said it conducted its own investigation when it became aware of the complaints “and took immediate action.”
