Tesco

[Willowherb]

Since finding out that Ecover products are no longer endorsed by the Vegan Society I emailed Tesco to find out whether their 'Naturally' environmentally friendly household products range included anything that was suitable for vegans. I received this not terribly helpful reply:


Thank you for your email.

I'm sorry but we don't have the information you asked for at the
moment.

That's because we need to update the information on a regular basis,
which is what we're doing now. Unfortunately, we don't know yet when the
updates will be ready.

So perhaps you can find the information you need on our website at:

http://www.tesco.com/health.

These pages have information on healthy living, allergies and free-from
products.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us at
customer.service@tesco.co.uk


The weblink they gave was of no use. I'd phoned before I emailed and the woman I spoke to said the product range was suitable for vegetarians but didn't know whether any products were suitable for vegans, so she took my number saying someone would get back to me with an answer but so far, after three days, nobody has. I'm even less impressed with Tescos now than before.

[cedarblue]

i never shop in tesco but had to pop in one yesterday.

i was pleased to find their punnets of organic cherry toms were in a compostable card box with a compostable plastic bag covering too!

[Mr Flibble]

I just finished a box of Fudgco Mango Sheets that I bought last Thursday. On Monday night I had a really bad stomach ache and having read what I just have I feel a tad queasy. After finishing the last one I found the best before date is 10/2006

I've just written to trading standards.

[Gorilla]

i've bought a few things from supermarkets that turned out to be past their sell-by date when i bought them, but never bothered to complain - none as out of date as that, Mr F! hope you get a positive result from Trading Standards!

[cedarblue]

knowing how supermarkets operate, i don't suppose you kept the receipt mr f? incase they try and force you to account for when you bought it?

[Digital Ghost]

Years ago a friend of mine told me he bought out of date items from a supermarket as when you take them back they refund twice the price.

Although I honestly have no idea if this works in all stores or still happens.

Anyhow I was wondering what are Fudgco Mango Sheets?
(please excuse my ignorance)

[Mr Flibble]

Yes, still have the receipt, am rather anal about accounting (I still have all food receipts from the past year ).

Actually I think the company is Fudco. They are dried pulverised mango, reconstituted into sheets. I eat plain dried mango too, but the sheets are kinda interesting. Supposidly you can stuff them with other things, but I've never gotten that far.

I bought a 7 quid bottle of vanilla extract from sainsburys once that was over a year out of date, but I noticed before I had any. I didn't drive then and couldn't easily get back there to claim my refund. In this case though I've eaten the whole box, and potentially been ill because of it. Hence this time I'm not going to settle for a refund (or double).

[Gorilla]

Years ago a friend of mine told me he bought out of date items from a supermarket as when you take them back they refund twice the price.

Although I honestly have no idea if this works in all stores or still happens.

as far as i know it's only Asda that does that, it's their standard policy to refund double for anything you're not happy with (i did it once because a jar of peanut butter i bought looked like it had been tampered with).

in my pre-vegan days i almost bought a pack of yogurts from Tesco that was over a month out of date - i can't imagine how ill it could've made somebody who'd eaten them. i went to complain and they quickly whisked them away from me without even an apology, and as i hadn't actually bought them i couldn't really do anything about it

[Marrers]

I'm always pointing out and complaining about out-of-date food in supermarkets. The staff hate me! It makes me furious when people don't do their jobs.

I also feel annoyed when new stock is put at the front of the fridge instead of being rotated (I always notice cos I'm reaching to the back of the shelf to find the longest dated item! )

[Digital Ghost]

I think it is a lot more serious than a double your money back situation to be honest Mr Fibble - especially as it has made you ill.
It is actually illegal (I believe) to sell out of date food however much anyone does it. I would agree with you and report it to the trading standards department of your local authority.

Thanks for the info on the mango sheets........by the way. They sound like something I used to get when I was in Poland.

[Gorilla]

i'm not sure it is illegal to sell food past its 'BEST BEFORE' date, as long as it's marked as such (and probably discounted accordingly). i've bought discounted food items past their best before date from independent shops and online shops - supermarkets probably don't do it (intentionally!) as often because it's not worth their while.

it's different with foods that have a 'USE BY' date - i believe it is illegal to sell these items once out of date (things like meat, dairy products etc. all have 'use-by' dates because they have a much greater chance of making people ill after a certain storage time).

presumably Mr Flibble's ill-fated mango wasn't marked as being out of date, otherwise i'm guessing he wouldn't have bought it. i don't know if there's a limit on how out of date a product can be for it still to be sold.

[Maisiepaisie]

It is illegal for stuff past the use by date to be sold. I managed to get some free Alpro yogurts this way. They were only a day out of day. I'll happily eat fresh foods upto maybe 5 days out of date and its never made me ill. Other stuff that has a long shelf life I've eaten a year out of date. I think they put an early date on to cover their backs. How can anyone possibly know the exact date something will go off?

[Maisiepaisie]

Tesco have just got in dairy free chocolate buttons in the 'free from' section YAY!!

[Mr Flibble]

They've had them in ours for a few weeks now. They taste ok, but at 45p for 9 they aren't the most cost effective way of buying chocolate. It's cheaper in the long run to buy a big bag of montezumas ones.

[Jiffy]

There seem to be ongoing problems with Tesco and out of date food. I took some dried apricots back last week and as ever, the 'customer service' harridan was spectacularly rude. She insisted on calling a 'manager' over (estimated age 13). Apparently it wasn't his fault because when stuff comes directly from Head office it isn't checked!

[Maisiepaisie]

They've had them in ours for a few weeks now. They taste ok, but at 45p for 9 they aren't the most cost effective way of buying chocolate. It's cheaper in the long run to buy a big bag of montezumas ones.

I think they're worth it as its nice chocolate (a lot of vegan chocolate tastes rotten) I haven't had the Montezumas ones. Where can I buy those?

[cobweb]

^ i think Hotel Chocolat do them Maisie (personally i find them very bitter, though)
My son LOVES those Dairy Free chocolate buttons from Tesco, especially as the packet reminds him of the Cadburys ones he had when he was little

[Maisiepaisie]

I probably won't like them if they're bitter. I don't like dark chocolate unless it has a mint filling or something that overpowers the bitter taste.

[cobweb]

no, nor do i, Maisie the only vegan chocolate i really like is the rice milk one

[bryzee86]

tesco nut cutlets are no longer vegan. It takes the piss. grrrr

[puffin]

tesco nut cutlets are no longer vegan. It takes the piss. grrrr

what have they put in them?

I have noticed that tesco have put up a lot of there prices to. The bread i buy was £1.56 i am sure it wasnt that expensive last time. The pasta sauce has gone up 10p to and there were a few other things but cant remember of the top of my head.

[bryzee86]

I think it was milk powder or something. They were perfectly good without it...

oh yeah definitely. they are inflating the prices at a massive rate.

the pure marge has gone up from 78p to 99p, the small granary loaves from 45p to 65p, alpro soya yoghurts from 99p to 1.39, the houmous from 63p to about 85p.

it's ridiculous. They are price hikes of 40% in some parts.

[puffin]

Yes indeed, i forgot about the marg. 40%
Milk powder, its so bloody frustrating.

[emzy1985]

I think it was milk powder or something. They were perfectly good without it...

oh yeah definitely. they are inflating the prices at a massive rate.

the pure marge has gone up from 78p to 99p, the small granary loaves from 45p to 65p, alpro soya yoghurts from 99p to 1.39, the houmous from 63p to about 85p.

it's ridiculous. They are price hikes of 40% in some parts.

I had a nice day out at Thorpe Park on my clubcard points ( I use alot of petrol...job number two is courier work!) that I'd saved up over a year. However after I shopped at Asda last night and the same shop I would do at Tesco cost me £91 instead of £130 - SCREW THE CLUBCARD POINTS!
As for the nutcutlets....meh! They were ok but not a major loss. I find myself shopping for main bits in the supermarket and then going to holland and barrat for burgers, sausages and cheeze etc....especially since most places stopped doing Linda McCartney sausages and pies etc.

[bryzee86]

It was whey powder in the nut cutlets. I had a look when I went today.

yeah, emzy, it's annoyed me that tesco don't do those linda mccartney pies any more.

[emzy1985]

I like Pies

[sugarmouse]

Tesco annoys me.I hate feeding the fat cats, but I like so much stuff they do!I love their frozen veg, it's the only place I can get that one cal salad dressing,and I like their fizzy water and their rice cakes.
I don't live very close to one, so Idon't shop there that much.

[bryzee86]

my belly likes pies

[bryzee86]

Tesco annoys me.I hate feeding the fat cats, but I like so much stuff they do!I love their frozen veg, it's the only place I can get that one cal salad dressing,and I like their fizzy water and their rice cakes.
I don't live very close to one, so Idon't shop there that much.

well it's the closest supermarket to me so, unless I want to pay to get to a diff one, I pretty much am resigned to going tesco

and I hate it so much.

[aubergine]

Interesting times. My local town has never been granted a decent supermarket and because the shopping centre has driven out small traders it means a bit of a drive to do the shopping. Tesco is now taking over a vast DIY store and is going to convert it. I have mixed feelings about it all. One one hand I dislike Tesco, but at the same time it will fill a hole that town has been crying out for.

[twinkle]

The price of bread has risen everywhere, they say it's because of the very wet summer we had, which hurt the ruined crops.

I like the Tesco premium lemonade, because they use proper sugar rather than the usual "sugar and sweeteners". I have mixed feelings about supporting the fat cats as well though, fortunately I don't drive so rarely get the opportunity to do much shopping there, as they're all out of town here.

[emzy1985]

The price of bread has risen everywhere, they say it's because of the very wet summer we had, which hurt the ruined crops.

Surely they must have vast stores though...like the ones full of animal feed? I just think it's another excuse to charge us more for everything...but that's off topic isn't it? MEH!

[Mr Flibble]

I thought the bread price raise was at the beginning of the year? (BBC News Article from Jan). The stuff we buy changed from £1 to £1.40 overnight about then.

[derwenna]

Out of interest, has anyone tried contacting Tesco recently to ask if they have a vegan product list? I'm guessing they don't, but it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway. I suppose I should just ring customer services, but I detest telephones...

[sandra]

I bought a Tesco vegetarian chilli and rice meal today and it says 'suitable for vegans' on the back of it! Hooray!!!!!

[derwenna]

In case anyone else is interested, I just phoned Tesco customer services and they said they don't do a vegan list. Didn't think they would, but worth asking just to show that there's demand.

[Risker]

I've still got their last list from Feb '06 for some reason.

[x-SaRaH-x]

the only things ive ever noticed with the word vegan on is their sorbet. that is white with vegan on it. I suppose i have noticed a few items with the white background but of which say vegetarian- like their value bran flakes!

[bryzee86]

tesco keeps whacking its prices up, i've noticed:

billington's natural icing sugar - was 99p, now £1.15
UHT sweetened soya milk - was 63p, now 72p
fresh sweetened soya milk - was 86p, now 90-odd-p
alpro soya yoghurts - were £1.39 (though only 99p about 18 months ago), now £1.49 and my local don't do the 500g cartons any more

I dread to think how much the bananas have gone up....they completely removed all of the labels. Perhaps to avoid shock?

[Andy]

Does anybody know is the tesco meat free mexican wraps are vegan?
I just found some at the back of the freezer and they seem to be.

[Risker]

Post the ingredients

[Andy]

lol its a huge list, hmm, i have an idea

... all those big words dont sound too good anyway lol

[JC]

i hope so coz i've had them before thinking they were!!! they definately don't have any dairy or egg in...

[sandra]

I've had them too!

[vegcurry]

I've not had them as I didn't know they existed but if they're cool ( pardon the unintended pun) then I'll be checking them out.

[emzy1985]

Tesco did a trial some time back with vegan labelling - in my store at least - and they were labled vegan. However give them an email to check out those fatty acids! Personally they tasted ok but not really something I'd like to eat evry often.

[!!]

The fatty acids could be non vegan...

Mono- and Diglycerides of fatty acids (glyceryl monostearate, glyceryl distearate) - Emulsifier
Because E471 is derived from Glycerine (Glycerol) (see E422 above), there may be a slim chance that E471 might contain animal fats.


Here's a link to the souce http://www.veggieglobal.com/nutritio...-additives.htm

[Marrers]

That's interesting emzy. How did they label? Did they just sticker things manually?

[!!]

I seem to remember the bean burgers or something had a V for vegan symbol actually printed on the packaging at one point. I don't know if they're vegan now though.

In other news, tesco have removed the lactic acid from their deli mini veg spring rolls, I had a look last night on the off chance. Didn't investigate any other ingredients as I wasn't planning on buying any- but I think that's the only reason i didn't buy them before

[sandra]

Lactic acid does not necessarily come from an animal source either. I think most commercially used lactic acid is grown from bacteria.
Once again, if in doubt contact the manufacturerer.