A Chobani Greek Yogurt, found on Oct. 28, had a best by date of Oct. 20 at The Grid on the Brownsville campus. LESLIE MEDRANO/THE RIDER
UTRGV Auxiliary Services staff conducted a thorough sweep of food products on campus that may have passed their “use by” date after The Rider brought up concerns.
For about three weeks, The Rider found different types of expired food for sale on the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses.
At the UTRGV Campus Store in Brownsville, the newspaper found for sale:
–a Sabra Snackers on Oct. 28, with a “best by” date of Oct. 21
–a Lunchables on Oct. 28 (best by Oct. 11)
–a Chobani Greek Yogurt on Oct. 28 (best by Oct. 20)
–a Powerade on Oct. 28 (best by July 29)
–a Hot ‘n’ Ready Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit on Nov. 12 (best by Nov. 11)
–a muffin on Nov. 12 (best by Nov. 7)
At The Grid:
–two chocolate milks on Nov. 12 (best by Nov. 11)
At the C-Store on the Edinburg campus:
–a bag of ChexMix on Nov. 12 (best by Oct. 21)
–a bag of Bugles on Nov. 12 (best by Sept. 18)
–two bags of Andy Capp’s Hot Fries on Nov. 12 (best by Sept. 13)
When The Rider informed Gilbert Garza, the Sodexo general manager, about the expired food, he said some items might have been overlooked.
“Well, I can assure you that without our knowledge, if there’s items that get expired, it is possible from the thousands of items that we have, that an item or two might be overlooked during our weekly review of our products,” Garza said.
Sodexo provides food items to the C-Store, The Grid and other locations on both campuses. Follet, a campus retailer, supplies UTRGV Campus Bookstores on both campuses.
Garza said it is not Sodexo’s intention to sell anything that is expired, but that the company does its best to remove any and all products that are past their “use by” date on a weekly basis.
Asked what the Sodexo policy is for expired food, Garza replied, “Well, as far as the policy, I know we have processes and, basically, whenever there is anything that’s expired, it has to be removed [or] discarded.”
Rachel Villarreal, a UTRGV clinical assistant professor and registered dietitian, said consumers do not need to avoid expired food as the label refers to the freshness quality of the item.
“So, most foods don’t have an actual expiration date on them,” Villarreal said. “They all have a ‘Best if used by’ sell, because it’s not really regulated by the government. So, there’s not a standard verbiage on there, but those are basically for [the] quality of food, meaning flavor and texture and things like that. … There’s actually a lot of food waste in this country regarding foods like that because a lot of people just think, ‘Well I’m just gonna throw it away because the date says today.’”
For safety issues, she said consumers can figure out if the food is contaminated by the smell and color.
The clinical assistant professor also said people should be fine eating food that has passed its “best used by” date unless there are indications it has spoiled.
In an interview with The Rider last Thursday, Roberto Cantu, the executive director of Auxiliary Business Services, said the department conducted a sweep last week through all campus stores to find any expired items.
“We did a thorough sweep and we didn’t find any expired items but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but we are being very vigilant about it,” Cantu said.
Customers who purchase an expired item may receive a full refund, according to Cantu.
Dyami Roman, a marketing freshman, said food on campus is convenient for students and thinks expired items are terrible to have at school.
“I mean, we all are just trying to eat something in between classes and it’s terrible,” Roman said. “We get stomachaches and then the next day you get sick. You can’t go to class or you’re just in constant pain and you can’t focus. It is something that has to be fixed, of course.”
Joanna Garza, manager at the UTRGV Campus Bookstore in Brownsville, apologized for the inconvenience and said she appreciates concerns about expired food were brought up.
“It’s a concern that we will be sure to address here at our campus store and be sure to follow up with our team and do better protocol, as far as quality control, to ensure that we are not having any expired products sold on the sales floor,” Garza said.
–Leslie Medrano and Fernando Ramirez contributed to this report.
