ICELAND.................

I am not sure if this is in the right topic (please move if it isn't) but I feel strongly enough about it to post.....

Before Christmas we went up to Iceland to take a 'looksee' as I was not intending to cook on Christmas Day! The first thing I noticed was that all the freezers were 'stuffed' to capacity - above the safety line for frozen food. Today we went back to get the papers on our way back from lunch at the Captains and I decided to pick up an Aunt Bessie's Mashed Potatoes...........When I picked them out of the freezer (above the safety limit), half of the pack was frozen and the other half was soft.......I thought I would be fair and talk to the manager! I showed him the offending pack and he took it from me and said, 'yes I know that they should be below a certain level' showing me where. I explained to him that I was concerned and he said yes, but it is very hard to keep under control as they have to get as much as possible into the freezers and it was hard to monitor!!!!! I explained that a bad case of food poisoning could possibly focus them. He again told me how difficult it was and I patiently explained that I was telling him instead of reporting it to the Board of Health, but he didn't seem to see a problem at all, in fact I felt that I had interrupted his day for a triviality - In the face of his response to my concerns I am now going to write to the Board of Health - but just be warned that anything above a certain 'line' in the freezer is unsafe to eat!!!! and that is only what I observed - goodness knows what happens to the frozen products before they get into the freezers.....

c.c Board of Health

Oh dear Karma, that is concerning! It will not trouble me as I don't shop at Iceland but I know friends that do! Hopefully a visit from Environmental Health / Board of Health will put matters right and the manager receives some appropriate training. Erm.... perhaps some customer service training as well? .

I think you will call that a 'First and Last' Dell (it was sheer nosiness I have the St Sampsons Co-op around the corner) - but the letter is now in the hands of the BOA - so let us see what happens from here on - but I should have told him a dose of Salmonella would focus the staff!!!

this is not good karma..maybe i should pay a visit too and have a go about the freezers xx

Glad you pointed this out karma the trouble is Safeways used to do this as well, its not good and perhaps bringing this to the forum will catch some media attention... (ps I have moved tis topic to a more appropriate section...

Thank you for moving this to the right place GD :-)

I have sent the letter off to the BOH and the Guernsey Press - it is without a doubt the most dangerous of practices......and we have all these 'be aware' do gooders on BBC Radio (and elsewhere) but what is the point of making sure you defrost food properly when it has been stored in such a dangerous manner?? I spoke to a friend in France this morning who was laid low with Salmonella thought the self same negligence......she was horrified!!!!

The Co-op on the Bridge have a really bad practice as well - they wheel out all their frozen food in one of their trolleys (Summer and winter alike) - and I cannot count the times I have picked up a 'solid' pack of peas which is the indication that it has defrosted and been refrozen They want 'elf and safety - I can give them enough to be getting on with...................

Thistle wrote:this is not good karma..maybe i should pay a visit too and have a go about the freezers xx

I would do that Thistle I personally will not be shopping there any more :-( but if you find anything don't bother to ask for the Manager !!!!

RESULT:

Further to our conversation yesterday I can confirm that I have visited Iceland and have spoken to the Manager Mr Smith regarding your concerns.

Together we checked all the units and some were found to be over filled. I advised Mr Smith to ensure all staff are properly instructed on the correct load levels. I understand that he was not at the store on the day in question

and he apologised for the poor response you received from the employee who dealt with your complaint in the store.

I hope this addresses your concern. Should you notice any problems in future please do contact me.

Yours sincerely

Philip Goodchild
Environmental Health Officer
Environmental Health and Pollution Regulation
Health and Social Services Department
States of Guernsey
Telephone:44 (0) 1481 707630

Maybe we should all be a bit more alert when we are shopping - because it is obviously not a good idea to leave to the 'elf&safety wallahs

i think we should all report bad practices in shops ..maybe then they will get things right x

Well done Karma and well done too the Environmental Health for a prompt visit & response.