Breaking Law readers and regulars to this blog will know of my interest in fairness to consumers and the Waitrose car park clock at Richmond-upon-Thames and M&S fruit display in the same town (see http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/search/label/nonsense). The clock, incidentally, was five minutes slow yesterday. It is true that the exit barrier was up so that it was possible to leave without tendering any money but there was nothing to suggest this was so on the machines which invited payment before the barrier is reached on another floor.
So what of the M&S fruit display? Well, they tell me that today is 6 October 2017 and if you examine the photographs above which I took this afternoon of the blackberries, white peaches and tomatoes shown opposite on display, you will see that they were all marked as best before....6 October 2017. I had to see a man about a dog and so did not have time to examine every item on display but three fruits in one store on the same day (and not for the first time) is bad enough. There is no suggestion that you would get a stomach ache if you consumed any of this fruit on or after today. But we expect a fruit which is not apparently marked down in price on account of its age to be at its best when we buy it. And we should not have to go shopping with a magnifying glass. I'll see what M&S say about this and let you know.
Have a good weekend. And if you don't, well tough bananas but check the date.
