Is it ok to give expired frozen food to staff?
Hi Everybody,
Is it ok to give expired frozen food (snacks & breakfast items) to the staff.
What's your opinion on it.
Greetings Sawad,
Generally no it isn't ok to give expired products to anyone !!!! You have to protect the consumers (food safety), no matter who they are and you also protect the company from the possiblity of a disatisfied employee who could use this against you (legal protection).
That being said, you could do it if you have proof that the product is safe and its quality traits are intact. An example of this is when you have a shelf-life analysis but you set a shorter expiration date than what the analysis showed, due to logistics/commercial reasons (eg your product can last 1 year, but you set exp. date to 8 months to promote faster market rotation).
Regards!
There is a world of difference between expired and past a best before date
Expired means just that, the food safety cannot be guaranteed
A best before date usually means there is a degradation is quality not safety
What kind of Frozen Food?
How long has it been expired?
Has it been exposed to temperature variations?
Do you know how demoralizing it would be to have your boss feed you expired food?
I can't really envision a scenario where employees would look on this as a good thing. And therefore, if it isn't a treat for employees you respect, why are you doing it?
Hi Sawad,
You are responsible for all the food provided to staff to be safe. If you doubt the safety you shouldn't feed it to your staff.
However frozen food that is past it best before date isn't spoiled. You can perform a shelf life (extension) validation before you decide if it is still fine.
Check the stock if there are any damages (signs that it was defrosted, any leakage, water damage, signs of pests etc.), than perform a sensory test to see if it is still good to eat (no freezerburn, off taste).
If it passes these tests it should be fine to eat. Under normal conditions frozen food doesn't pose any micro hazards.
Do also keep in mind that people don't like getting served ''spoiled'' foods. If it is just one items that you are extending it should be fine. If you are purposely buying and serving out of date items to cut costs without telling them; your staff might feel under appreciated.
Even if it is good to eat.
Or be open that you are serving ''saved'' food items to prevent wastage.
the food are not spoiled. All are well maintained in proper temperature. There was no reports of temperature abuses. Since it passed already declared dates, we thought of distributing among the staff. We explained to the staff the products are BBD passed.
We have also tasted the product. it did taste good.
Such cases should be approached in the same way as you would approach any frozen raw material coming in with expired date.
Risk Assessment is the key term. And this needs to be documented.
Concessions for extensions can be given only on the basis the risk assessment is carried out fully.
You should take into account several things:
- Type of product: meat based or vegetables based, fish, spices, herbs, etc
- Shelf life lab results,
- Shelf life sensory evaluation,
- Storage Temperature records,
- Previous history of products,
- Raw material supplier input,
- Quality and Food Safety Complaints of the product.
Document everything - Do not do anything light hearted.
Hi Everybody,
Is it ok to give expired frozen food (snacks & breakfast items) to the staff.
What's your opinion on it.
Hi Sawad,
What kind of Packaging, eg vac.pac/MAP ?
So what is the food ? RTE ?
What was the shelf life ?
Was the shelf life based on Safety ? If not, why not ?
I would personally err on the side of caution and not. Even though they are part of your company, they are still a part of the consumer base.