WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — Rite Aid shoppers, be on the lookout. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local Union 1 says local stores are selling items that are nearly one year old.
"A company that promotes health should not be selling outdated food products," said Frank DeRiso President of UFCW Local 1.
The union launched an investigation where they found hundreds of outdated items, including milk for sale 2 months after the "sell by" date and meat nearly 3 weeks old.
"[we found] bread that was so out of code, it had an odor to it," said Mark Manna, union representative
7 Eyewitness News reached out to Rite Aid for a comment.
"We don’t believe the allegations are accurate based upon the data we have assessed from the stores," said Public Relations Director Chris Savarese. Our analysis shows that the three stores in question perform this process daily and were up to date."
The store's police is to pull items 15 days before expiration and short term products like milk, one day before.
7 Eyewitness News reporter Taylor Epps went to three Rite Aid locations in the area, in Williamsville, Kenmore and Downtown Buffalo. She did not find any items past their sell-by date, but she did find milk with a sell-by date in the next 24 hours.
"we want our customers to know that Rite Aid associates work hard every day to ensure that we only have fresh product on our shelves and that we are proud to have positive audits from regulatory agencies throughout the country," added Savarese.
"We urge customers to closely scrutinize every item they intend to purchase at local Rite Aids. Check for sell by dates and the condition of any fresh items Rite Aid sells," said DeRiso.
The union contacted the New York State Attorney General for further investigation into Rite Aid and its practices.
