PHOENIX, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Hungry for Respect, the coalition responsible for exposing the widespread stocking and selling of expired baby formula in Bashas' owned stores in Phoenix, Yuma and Tucson in May and June 2007, called on Bashas' to use the systems they claim to have in place to prevent the sale of recalled food items to prevent future sales of expired baby formula, and to finally admit that expired formula was sold in its stores.
Speaking with KTAR yesterday concerning the recall of possibly contaminated chili, other meat products and dog food produced by Castleberry's, Bashas' manager James Helmann claimed that even if the products were on the shelves they couldn't be sold at his store. "Bashas' has systems in place through our point of sale systems that actually flagged the recalled items so that they can't be sold through the register."
Lot numbers and UPC codes are used during recalls to track the distribution of potentially tainted product. A December 2006 article in dcvelocity.com revealed the following:
Lot numbers and product codes are typically also recorded on invoices,
bills of lading and other documentation shared between suppliers and
customers, according to Jill Hollingsworth, vice president of food safety
for FMI.
"In general, there is a link from the retailer to the distributor and back
to the supplier. They work as partners," she says. Enterprise, inventory
management and warehouse control systems are also designed to make it easy
to exchange this information. Once a threat is identified, stores can now
be notified in hours, not days, Hollingsworth adds.
Nearly two weeks ago, Bashas' officials copied lot numbers and UPC codes from the 683 cans of expired baby formula purchased at Bashas' owned stores.
"With such powerful consumer protection technology, we expect Bashas' to promptly and truthfully admit that expired formula was sold in its stores, and assure the public that this won't happen again. Unfortunately, the delay leads us to believe that Bashas' may be hiding the truth from the public. We should expect and continue to demand more from a company that claims to be an industry leader," said Hector Yturralde of Hungry for Respect.
Hungry for Respect is a coalition of grocery store employees, their union and community allies. More information can be found at http://www.hungryforrespect.org/
Hungry for Respect
CONTACT: Katy Giglio of UFCW Local 99, +1-602-251-0423, mobile,
+1-480-543-0373
Web site: http://www.hungryforrespect.org/
