Over the past few weeks, the Frugal Yankee has been tackling supermarkets. We are continuing this with a look at some more dirty little secrets lurking in the aisles and at the checkout counter.
We believe supermarkets aren't evil. They'd just prefer to keep us in the dark. What we don't know won't hurt us, but Frugal Yankees want to know. And we want to make intelligent decisions. We're savvy, diligent and curious.
With that in mind, here are more SUPERMARKET DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS.
COOTIES So how clean are supermarkets? Are there lots of cooties and other nasties just waiting to make you sick? Maybe. A recent University of Arizona study found 60% of shopping carts tested had more germs than a typical public toilet seat. Shopping carts ranked #1 in nasties of all the items tested. As one wag said, "Think about it, your fresh lettuce is placed where the last user might have been a drooling, in need of a diaper changing, tot. The bacterial possibilities are mind boggling."
We're not sure how bad it ireally is, but after a trip to the supermarket, we wash our hands, food, anything exposed to the 'elements'.
And look beyond waxed floors and neat aisles. Wonder how clean the supermarket really is. Are there flies, roaches, mice and rats? Probably. Keeping vermin out of any place where food and opportunity exists is difficult. Don't assume supermarkets are any better at than your home. At the Frugal Yankee's home, the annual migration of field mice into our basement is only thwated by ever vigilant cat, and a few dozen mouse traps. And just a few weeks ago, we had a food moth infestation. So when it comes to supermarkets, you should assume there are some critters and bugs hanging around. Assume, the food has been compromised. Act accordingly.
A Frugal Yankee Rule of Thumb: Be Proactive! Protect your family with food sanitary practices
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TIP: One of the very best santizers is a very mild solution of bleach and water. The mixture should be so mild, you can drink it, but it will still kill germs on contact.
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It's difficult to determine if your supermarket is doing a good job of keeping critters and nasties out, but here are a few questions and tips to help you.
• Check with your health department. Do they inspect? How frequently? How did your store(s) fare?
• When shopping, look out for dust, or dented cans. Is there anything that says, "I've been here way too long?" If so, avoid, avoid, avoid.
• Are the employees using sanitary procedures? Plastic gloves? Hair nets? Etc.
• Are there any piles of boxes and trash handing around? Drive to the back of the store and see if it is neat and clean or is a place where critters would love to hang out and have a luau?
Now, none of these problems refer to the growing problem of tainted food from outside the US. That's for another day.
DATES Lots of dates on lots of products, but what do they mean?
Stickers on fresh food and meat that say “BEST IF USED BY”, it is a suggestion, not law. The Feds regulate some products, but not all. So be savvy. Use your senses. If it looks bad, if it smells bad, toss it.
The 'SELL-BY' sticker is also not a law; it is an internal guideline. The 'sell-by' means 'how long it may be displayed'. This alerts supermarket employees when it is time to rotate the stock.
As these items get closer to their 'date', many spermarkets mark them down. When you see such an item, inspect it carefully. Be sure it looks and smells fresh. If you do buy it, be sure to refrigerate it and, if not used quickly, freeze it properly.
A Frugal Yankee Rule of Thumb: Don't believe dates. Use them as a guideline. Trust your senses.
TOSS THAT SALAD Germs can grow with abandon at salad bars. Hot food requires a constant 135º to remain safe. On the opposite end of the scale, fresh foods require 41º or lower to keep germs from growing. If one or the other isn't being met, food poisoning is likely. Be careful.
If you see an empoyee restocking the bar, are they practicing proper sanitary techniques? If not, don't partake, and if you're concerned, call your health dpeartment.
A Frugal Yankee Rule of Thumb: Salad bars aren't cheap and maybe potentially dangerous. Make your own.
IF THEY CUT IT, YOU'LL GET SLICED A popular item in supermarkets these days is pre-sliced or pre-chopped veggies. It's simple - cut up food costs more, a lot more. The only way a Frugal Yankee should buy chopped veggies is if you have a deep and abiding fear of knives.
A Frugal Yankee Rule of Thumb: If it's chopped, it'll chop your budget into bits.
IS IT REALLY A BARGAIN? We talked about this earrlier, but it bears repeating. Is that item really a deal? Maybe not. Look carefully. Was that 2-for-1 item at a lower price last week? Do you really need 10 loaves of bread to get that 11th one free? Bargains like these result in the average shopper buying 30% than normal. That's why they do these sales.
A Frugal Yankee Rule of Thumb: Buy only what you need or can safely store.
SHOP DIFFERENTLY Stores are laid out to promote impulse buys. Lots of research, lots of smart minds and lots of money has been directed to have your run through the supermarket maze with one goal in mind: buy more. Don’t have to cruise around the perimeter or go up and down each and every aisle. Take a moment to figure out where you want to go. Here's a trick, leave your cart at the end of aisle and walk from one end to another picking up items in your arms. Impulse buying will be inhibited by full arms.
A Frugal Yankee Rule of Thumb: Do it your way, not theirs.
Before we close out this topic, here are a few facts.
SUPERMARKETS NOT ECO-FRIENDLY In England, 35-40% of household waste comes from the packaging originally from supermarkets. We’re sure it’s not very different in the US. This usually ends up in the landfill, costing you more in taxes.
EMPLOYEES ARE GETTING SHAFTED Steven Burd, the CEO for Vons/Safeway, a west coast supermarket chain, got an $11.5 million bonus for 2006. The average supermarket worker in LA makes $497 per week. In 2000 they made $587. Gee, I guess he got that bonus by stiffing his workers. Ain't America grand?
Check out our web site, FRUGAL YANKEE.com for more tips as well as a recent survey showing which New England supermarkets have the best prices. We'll give you a hint, the difference between two well known chains is 25%!
Please let us know how we're doing. Leave a comment. And remember, it doesn't take much to a Frugal Yankee, all you have to do is be smart, opinionated and downright thrifty.
Next week: Part 4 of our supermarket series: More Saving Tips
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Comments: 49
As usual, great advice Frugal Yankee.....but what happened to #3 - this is #2 and you say the next one is #4....? I don't want to miss any of them ;-)
The supermarket series is in five parts. The first one was Ten Tips, then Dirty Secrets - Part One, then Dirty Secrets Part 2. Next week we'll some savvy shopping ideas and the final installment will the supermarket of the near future. I hope that clears up the confusion.
Thanks for clearing up my confusion ;-)
I also stick mainly the outside of the store, except for cereal, pasta, pasta sauces, and cheeses from the international aisle. I buy detergent at Costco and many other things so I don't buy them at the supermarket unless they are on sale.
I liked your suggestions about avoiding the cleanliness issues in supermarkets. I use the wipes that they give you when you walk into the store. I wash down the handles of my cart, and my fingers (since they touched it before we entered the store) and the top part where i put produce. I also wash my hands after touching it all at home.
Never a bad idea to be overly careful when it comes to stuff like that.
About 20 years ago, I helped start a feed-the-hungry program in my church. Like the food pantries, we subsisted on donations of money and products to operate our kitchens. We approached all the grocery stores in our area to allow us to come pick up those items that were still savageable and they all refused. It was "against store policy". They preferred to throw them away. It was heartbreaking to see huge bins behind each store fill up with produce, bakery goods and canned goods that the stores no longer wanted on their shelves. A lot of people could have been fed with the stuff they just threw out.
Grocery store margins are razor thin. So they want most Americans, who are not very flexible, to buy the stuff at eye level, so the stuff they make the most on or have been paid slotting fees (rent) for, are at eye level.
Frequently the bargains are at floor level. If you can squat (a good thing to be able to do), you can easily get to the less-expensive stuff, often loss-leaders that they draw people into the store with. The classic example is 10-for-$1 ramen. I am not saying ramen is the ideal food, but it is inexpensive in a pinch.
I seem always to wangle a conversation over to exercise. We can save ourselves so much trouble, woe, and money by working out.
Growing your own is kind of on the same theme, even though earth, sun, and moon help. It is amazing the things you can grow in a window sill. I have judged our entire summer in my Oregon neighborhood to be too cold for basil. So it has had to stay in a north-facing window all summer. It's not huge, but it tastes good. I have to dead-head the flowers, but I just eat them.
Thanks.
To Duckie, I know we all want to think supermarkets follow good sanitary procedures, but the reality is far from it. I know some are good, and some are bad, but for us, we have to assume the worst and act accordingly, especially if we want to protect our families.
Another bit of advice I would add is the bar code which makes it difficult for the consumer and the one working the cash register to see if the price being charged reflects the price advertised.
Here in the local huge Danish supermarket where I often shop, it seems that every third time I buy a product discounted by a sign near the product, the price charged by the bar code at the register does not reflect the real price. I have gotten so frustrated by this, that I now make enough of a deal of that at the cash resister - rather than being quietly directed to the customer service counter - that hopefully that frustration, extra person hours and the irritable customers in line behind me, that a change will take place.
When I shop in America when visiting or working there, I have found the same exact problem, and it now seems to me, that there is more to this bar code problem than a simple error, but a bit of fraud as well.
I have found that most of the stores here will give you the same price for 2 as for 10 in the buy 10 for $10.00 or whatever the sale price is. I always ask.
Also, I'm willing to pay a dollar or two more for the kind of service, attitude and merchandise that I want. I have found, through asking, of course, that most of the stores with most helpful, friendly employees are well paid and appreciated. I always ask. I always ask if they are union and how long they've been there. Not on every trip but over a certain amount of time.
People usually treat you better when they know you really see them and care about them.
I am of the opinion that people who shop like this should not be allowed in store and should have to go to restaurants or have their food delivered if they cannot respect the rules of society.
Any business owner who values the customer will be diligent when it comes to cleaning the premesis and providing undamage goods for public consumption.
If you see this is not the case, ALWAYS avoid shopping there.
Bad habits die hard. Even if an establishment cleans up its act for awhile, most often, it will slide right back to where it was before, once the pressure from public health or other public scrutiny wears off.
Clean business = Good business.
There are no excuses that can justify an unsafe or unclean environment no matter what you are selling. ~Natalie Neal, former owner of a retail business
Keep them coming O holy guru..
pj
Most supermarkets have national contracts for pest control. They also take drastic steps to avoid contamination. Yes, some chains are more proactive then others but basicly it well know, if a customer finds a roach in the produce, its a huge profit loss if not death to the store.
Sell By Dates are not law, but they are more then internal guidelines. Sell By Dates are used to allow customers to know how fresh the items are and also for vendors and store employee to remove older stock. Yes some store mark down the product, however they also provide the same freshness promise. If it is spoiled, I know of no store who will not replace it at price paid, and some will still double it.
Remember supermarkets depend not on one visit, but routine visits from the same customers.