I was shopping at a Toronto area Loblaws yesterday. Around closing time they often mark the items in the deli area to half price. I often bring home some of the half-price roast chickens to freeze and supplement my dog's dinner.
Yesterday I asked why they hadn't marked down the chickens as usual. The answer:
"We don't mark them down any more, sir. We cook them into our chicken pot pies now--they're so yummy!"
Some of those chickens had been sitting under the hot light for almost five hours. The idea of storing them overnight, then heating them again to save $10 or $15 on a stack of poultry seemed like a really bizarre policy.
Meanwhile, I wanted to buy a bread and noticed, a few feet away, that Loblaws employees were throwing them into huge clear plastic bags. I was told that if I wanted one, I could fish one out of the trash bag myself. I assumed they were headed for Second Harvest or a similar food bank. Nope, these bags were going into the garbage. They were so eager to get them into the trash that they were doing this 45 minutes before closing time.
I've seen the bread going into the trash at a number of Loblaws stores, although the chicken pot pie policy seems unique to the one outlet.
They're getting a letter from me on both these policies.
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The modern solution to all of this is to surreptitiously viddy all of this sorry behaviour, then post it to youtube or FB and hope it goes viral. Then watch BlahBlahs rush to do some 'splainin.
The modern solution to all of this is to surreptitiously viddy all of this sorry behaviour, then post it to youtube or FB and hope it goes viral. Then watch BlahBlahs rush to do some 'splainin.
Just take in my Secret Sam briefcase and (no wait, it's 2010, not 1967). If I can get someone to eat the chicken pot pie, I will record video of them getting sick!
Seriously, I might do that with the bread. In every case I've seen the giant bags of bread, I've asked them if they're going to a food bank, and am always told they're being trashed. That's what I 'd need to capture. Thanks for the push.
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Just take in my Secret Sam briefcase and (no wait, it's 2010, not 1967). If I can get someone to eat the chicken pot pie, I will record video of them getting sick!
Seriously, I might do that with the bread. In every case I've seen the giant bags of bread, I've asked them if they're going to a food bank, and am always told they're being trashed. That's what I 'd need to capture. Thanks for the push.
Yes I have a neighbour that dumpster dives and finds everything he needs to feed his chickens without paying a dime.
It took myself and several others well over a year to persuade our local Sobey's to set up a points card so that customers could give club points could go to the local food bank.
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That policy likely affects many other grocery stores as well other than LoBlaws if I had to guess - the throwing out of perfectly good food.
I suspect it does. But Loblaws does it in full view. While I can understand a reluctance to try to deliver 16 ounces of potato salad to a food bank, it would appear--at least on the surface--that delivering big sacks of bread would be a fairly easy proposition.
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To be honest, most food banks don't take stale bread anymore. They refuse it. I know from first hand experience.
I don't see the issue with making the chicken pot pies either?
EDIT: Full disclosure here. I was a Loblaws employee for 15 years (albeit only in non-food departments) and my family members hold a wide variety of positions within the company (from Store Managers, District Managers, Regional Vice Presidents, to part-time staff)
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Perhaps you're right--perhaps the food banks won't take bread. The bread is still fresh though. It was being sold out of the bags to anyone who needed bread.
The problem with the chicken pot pies are that they are kept warm--not hot--for 5 or 6 hours before they are saved overnight, then cooked into a pie. By most standards I have read, chicken should be refrigerated within two hours of cooking. Turning it into a pot pie after 5 hours of warm storage seems like a stretch.
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Perhaps you're right--perhaps the food banks won't take bread. The bread is still fresh though. It was being sold out of the bags to anyone who needed bread.
The problem with the chicken pot pies are that they are kept warm--not hot--for 5 or 6 hours before they are saved overnight, then cooked into a pie.
From my experience in the stores, the HMR department (where you would get your chickens) must do temperature checks ever half hour. These logs are then faxed every Monday to their Department Specialist, and scoured over for any discrepancies. Also, the Loss Prevention departments do spot checks on temperature logs in HMR (and any department where holding temperatures must be maintained) to make sure they are being recorded accurately.
From my knowledge, certain temperatures must be held in order for the product to maintain its integrity. Those chickens are refrigerated immediately after store closing at an even temperature.
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From my experience in the stores, the HMR department (where you would get your chickens) must do temperature checks ever half hour. These logs are then faxed every Monday to their Department Specialist, and scoured over for any discrepancies. Also, the Loss Prevention departments do spot checks on temperature logs in HMR (and any department where holding temperatures must be maintained) to make sure they are being recorded accurately.
At 9:00 p.m., the labels on the chickens showed that some of them had been out of the oven since 4:30. Any home safety info I've seen says that chicken should be refrigerated within two hours of cooking. How is this different? The chickens are coming out of the hot lights warm, but not at 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not being challenging, just curious to know.
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