Parents 'Horrified' After Cow and Gate Porridge Purchased From Tesco Was Two Years Out Of Date

Parents Buy Baby Food From Tesco That Was Two Years Out Of Date
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UPDATE: This article originally stated that Mr Healey contacted Cow & Gate to make a complaint. We have since learned the Healey family contacted Tesco not Cow & Gate. The story has been updated to reflect this.

A mum and dad were left "horrified" when they were sold baby food nearly two years out of date.

Claire Healey, 30, and husband Ryan, 34, bought a box of Cow and Gate porridge from their local Tesco Express on 7 January, only to discover the product expired in March 2014.

They realised it only minutes before feeding it to their seven-month-old son Rupert.

Mr Healey, from Bingley, West Yorkshire, said: "I dread to think what would have happened if we had actually fed it to my son. Sell-by dates are there for a reason - it's disgusting that this has happened."

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The parents were close to feeding the food to their seven-month-old son

The couple said they only thought to check the date at the last minute as the box appeared worn.

They said Rupert has been having the same particular porridge for breakfast since he started eating solids.

Mr Healey said: "It's bad enough for an adult to eat food that's far out of date, but for a child so small it's scary.

"The worst case scenario doesn't even bare thinking about.

"It's not just that it's two years out of date. I went back the next day for some more and the sell-by dates on those boxes were in 2017, so that particular box has probably sat on the shelves for at least three years."

Mrs Healey said she wants more parents to be aware about checking for dates on food for their babies.

She added: "It has certainly made me paranoid about sell-by dates. I just feel really lucky that we noticed it in time."

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The baby food, which was bought in 2016, expired in 2014

After contacting Tesco, Mr Healey said they have been offered vouchers worth the value of the refund, but this isn't satisfactory.

He said: "It isn't about the refund. It's about making people aware of the situation and making sure it doesn't happen again.

"It shouldn't have happened in the first place.

"I feel their response was very robotic. I understand they have a standardised response but for an incident like this I feel they should have gone above and beyond and they haven't really.

"Sometimes you see pictures of flies in fruit and stuff that has been damaged beyond their control, but this is their error."

A Cow and Gate spokesperson said: "We're concerned to hear about Healey family's experience.

"If parents ever have problems or questions about any aspect our products, we are always available with help and advice from our Careline."

A Tesco spokesperson said: "We are committed to the highest standards of food safety for our customers and we have robust procedures in place for the rotation and date code checking of our products.

"We're sorry that we did not meet these standards in this case. We have checked the shelf life of the baby products in our Crossflatts Express store and all products are comfortably within the sell by date."

Baby Food Around The World
Vietnam(01 of05)
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Porridges and broths abound in Vietnam. Infants are served soups high in fiber, seasoned with fish sauce and pork bones for flavor, which contain ground or thinly sliced shrimp, potatoes, and vegetables such as carrots and butternut squash. Some parents even add infant cereal to these homemade soupy blends. Photo Credit: iStock_Thinkstock Click Here to see The Complete List of Baby Food from Around the World
Sweden(02 of05)
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Swedish starter foods include mashed up fruits and vegetables, but Swedes also feed their babies välling, a wheat-based cereal that is similar to oatmeal and contains palm oil, canola, and powdered milk.Photo Credit: © Flickr /hepp
Jamaica(03 of05)
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In the morning before a serving of milk, 4-month-old babies on the tropical island are given indigenous fruit and fruit blends — custard apple, mango, banana, papaya, naseberry — with a teaspoon of honey to enhance the flavor. Photo Credit: amana-image_thinkstock Click Here to see The Complete List of Baby Food from Around the World
China and East Asia(04 of05)
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By the time they're 4 months old, tykes in China have moved on from breast milk to rice dishes paired with fish, carrots, seaweed, and eggs, and hearty porridges made with banana, milk, and green beans. Other popular blends include chicken soup and pumpkin and ground pork and smashed eggplant. Photo Credit: iStock_Thinkstock
Tibet(05 of05)
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A Tibetan baby’s first foray into the world of food starts at a mere four days old, when a piece of zamba — barley, wheat, corn, and peas stirred, fried, and ground into flour and mixed with yak butter — is stuck to the infant’s forehead as a ritual to denote purity. Photo Credit: © Flickr /notemper2xClick Here to see The Complete List of Baby Food from Around the World