Healthy Markets

[JulieM]

I see you guys talk about different stores from time to time. I have Whole Foods and Wild Oats near me. Wild Oats is closer and I shop there all the time. But I've been having a problem with the stuff I bring home being old, such as bread that is already moldy or molds too quickly, grated parmesan that start molding in just a few days, and this week... I took chicken breasts out of the fridge that I'd just bought the night before, and it really, really STANK! I was so mad. Of course they apologized and told me this never happened before and replaced the chicken. At the prices they charge, you expect the best!

So I have two questions for any of you that have access to these stores. Are you having the same problems and do you prefer one of these stores over the other?

One more thing. The manager at Wild Oats told me that natural meats will spoil quicker than meats you buy at the regular grocery. This makes no sense to me. Natural meats are free of antibiotics, hormones and pesticides from the animals' feed. I wouldn't think any of these things would make the meat last longer. What you do think? Is he just feeding me a line or what?

I really appreciate any feedback! Thanks!

[SusanT]

It shouldn't be the consumer's job to police the sell-by dates for products. A professionally run store should do that for you. These stores probably don't have the high turnover of products that regular grocery stores have but it's still no excuse for selling spoiled milk.

We had a Wild Oats in my nieghborhood which I finally stopped shopping at after getting spoiled milk there several times (it still should have been fresh according to the sell-by date) and completely unsatisfactory service.

[gertdog]

Julie,

While there isn't a Whole Foods in my town, there's one in my parents' city, and I was so excited to shop there! I bought veggies, cheeses, and a few single-serving cartons of chocolate Silk to drink while I was staying with them.

But then... more fool me for not checking... one of my cheeses was past its "pull" date the day I brought it home. I just chided myself, and as it was hard cheese and not moldy, ate it anyway. No problem.

But then... (yeah there's more!) I drank two of the chocolate Silks, no problem. Last day at my parents, I open the last carton and stand next to the sink to chug it down. Good thing I'm by the sink, because the Silk is chunky and caustic. It took all day to lose the bad taste. Checked the sell-by date... it had expired WEEKS before I bought it. Again, I should have checked... I know I checked the date on at least one carton, but guess I missed this one.

My question is, how did Whole Foods miss it? I wonder if, although these "healthy" markets are more and more common, there still isn't a big enough consumer audience for the variety of non-mainstream products they stock, and so products languish on the shelves longer?

[JulieM]

Anyone else have any feedback on these issues? Since I posted this over the weekend, I'm hoping some of you are just checking in with the board on Monday and are seeing this topic for the first time.

[Jewel]

I don't have a Whole Foods or a Wild Oats near me, but I do shop at Trader Joe's, and there is a PCC Co-op about a half hour away that we'll visit every once in awhile. The Co-op is huge. It's the size that I imagine a Whole Foods would be, since TJ's are relatively small.

About a year ago I bought some different rice blends in bulk from PCC. Pull the handle, fill up your bag, weigh your bag, etc. About a week later I noticed the bags were moving...I mean they were CRAWLING with bugs. I had put them in my tough gallon Ziploc bags when we arrived home, but there were still hundreds of those nasty little black dudes in each bag and they were busy making babies. When I called PCC they told me that their rice blends are natural. No pesticides. Said that they don't do anything to the rice before they put it into the bins, so it's very likely that bugs and eggs were attached to the rice when they went into the bin. He suggested washing the rice before I use it to alleviate the problem... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif Like I'm going to use it knowing there's eggs on it? I stopped buying anything that wasn't pre-packaged at that place.

I've also noticed quite a bit of early spoilage on cheeses, but I actually thought that was because of the lower turnover than in your regular grocery. Maybe not! Anyway, when you fill them bags, look REALLY close! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[JulieM]

Jewel - I was having the same problem for a while at Wild Oats. It seemed all the bulk grains and cereals would "come alive" after a short time at home. I'm like you... no way I'm going to try to clean it and eat it anyway. I would return the food and complain to the manager. Finally they cleaned out all the bulk bins and got rid of that problem. I think what happens is that something comes in with the eggs, they hatch and fly into other foods and before long they have a real problem.

Someone else told me that the cheese spoils faster also because it doesn't contain additives that the cheese at the regular stores has in it. I don't know if this is true either, or if it's what you said--it was old when you bought it.

[Melman]

I had this 'pull by' date problem at Harry's in Atlanta!! They were actually doing a PROMOTION on some flavored sour cream. A taste test...a coupon...and even personally handed the sour cream.

Got home to SOUTH CAROLINA and looked at the container....the pull by date was the day I bought it!!!! I've tried to be much more aware of those dates with anything I've purchased like that.

[JLS]

jewel: what pcc was it? I used to shop at the greenlake one and never had a problem. I noticed you lived in renton, for natural and bulk foods have you tried fred meyer? They are cheaper and although, I found their produce to be "not worthy" they did keep an excellent eye on the bulk items.

(*In case you read my profile, I used to live in Greenlake, before I moved to DC)

[This message has been edited by JLS (edited 06-18-2001).]

[valeriek]

I have noticed that the expire date on the cheeses I buy at Trader Joe's seems right around the corner (especially grated parmesean). Since the TJ's is about 2 blocks from my apartment, I have no trouble stopping in on the way home from work to buy cheese (or whatever else) for what I am making that evening. Of course, that requires me to be a meal planner with a list always in hand, but I'm a little nuts that way http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif. I do get bulk grains (especially lentils) from Fresh Field's and have never noticed bugs (thank goodness!). I don't buy cheese at Fresh Field's anymore though because of a Feta issue (every time I bought Feta there, it would be bad regardless of the expiration date). But that was before I discovered Trader Joe's so I'm not that upset by it (especially since Trader Joe's is cheaper).

[Jewel]

Originally posted by JLS:
jewel: what pcc was it? I used to shop at the greenlake one and never had a problem. live in Greenlake, before I moved to DC)



JLS, I'm talking about the PCC in Issaquah. Manager told me that its not necessarily in the bins, it's in the rice. Says the stuff has to travel a long ways and it's not washed, so what was on it in the field is on it in the bins! I have tried Fred Meyer bulk, as well as Larry's Market, but they didn't have the variety of rice blends that PCC did. (Red Rice Blend? YUM!) Just have to stick with the other stuff now, though, because I don't need the 'extra protein' that the little critters provide! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif