Expired Food On Shelves At Fiesta #39 in Houston

When you're grocery shopping, it's important to check the dates on the foods you buy. 

Today I was in Fiesta Mart in Houston's Sharpstown neighborhood and found six cartons of liquid egg whites that expired weeks ago. 

This is Store #39, at 8710 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, Texas. This store, in my opinion, is the worst supermarket in Houston and one of the worst I've seen anywhere in the United States. 

To be fair, there are other Fiesta stores that I like, but this particular store is run particularly poorly. Examples follow.

According to Foodspace, liquid egg whites "are ONLY good until the expiration date."

Five of the liquid egg cartons I found at Fiesta were marked "Use by 26 Dec 22," and one was marked "Use by 28 Nov 22" (six weeks and 2 days past safe usage). As with the expired sausages I found in August 2022 (see below), I took the expired cartons up front and left them with a clerk and when I asked for a manager I was told they were all in a meeting. I asked her to tell the managers that they're doing a lousy job of keeping expired food items off the shelves.

According to the USDA on the safe handling of eggs, "If the container for liquid products bears a 'use-by' date, observe it. Follow the storage and handling instructions provided by the manufacturer."

Over the past four years, I've come across numerous products at this Fiesta that are long past their "sell by" and "use by" dates. Do they want to be sued for food poisoning?

Back on August 30, 2022, I found seven packages of past-date sausages. Each had a "sell by" date of July 31. A month out of date. How did the staff miss this?

I've often found perishable items that are way past "sell by" dates at this store. Not just a day or two, but weeks past. Dairy, packaged meats, and other items. Do they not care? Are they lazy? Stupid? Do they put profit ahead of customer safety? I don't know, I'm just asking. 

I only stop in to this store for convenience; soda, bottled water, canned goods, and other items that are not a food poisoning risk. But I usually go out of my way to shop elsewhere, because this store has the worst checkout process I've ever experienced at any grocery store across the country. 

Customers unaccustomed to electronic pay terminals regularly clog up the "Express" lanes (clearly marked as "10 Items Or Less") with a cart full of 30, 40 or more items – and the clerks and managers do not enforce the 10-item limit. Clerks needing a manager's assistance will call out "service," tying up the line for many minutes until one shows up to solve whatever it was. I swear, I've never seen that as a regular occurance in any other grocery store in America. 

Although the store has 10 checkout lanes, they usually have only three or four open even as people are lined up 20-deep and blocking the aisles. It's as though the managers are blind to this or they just don't care. Maybe they're blind to it because they don't care.

Ninety percent of the customers mindlessly block the way with their carts and stare at you dumbly when you say, "excuse me" as you try to get past them. When you leave the store, your brain hurts.

A couple of years ago, I found a packaged seafood item on a non-refrigerated display. The package clearly said, "Keep Refrigerated," and not just after opening. It was perishable. I pointed this out to a manager. His response shocked me. "Well, we don't refrigerate those in my country." What the hell? 

You've been warned. Check those "sell by" dates, especially at Fiesta Mart #39 in Houston. It might keep you from getting sick.

Related:

• The Problems With Fiesta Mart In Texas - Chicago News Bench
• Using Liquid Egg Whites Past the Expiration Date - Foodspace
• This Is What Those Best-By, Sell-By, and Use-By Dates Really Mean - All Recipes 
• OSHA launches investigation into Fiesta Mart after 2 butchers suffer from amputation injuries - Click 2 Houston
• Fiesta Mart reviews & complaints - Complaints Board