As people continue to share their horrifyingly overpriced grocery finds at supermarkets and drug stores across Toronto, one shopper has identified yet another issue facing consumers in an age of price-gouging, inflation and shrinkflation: brands sneakily changing expiration dates on old food.

During a trip to the Metro at College and Yonge on September 29, the resident purchased some bacon-wrapped chicken medallions that, according to the store labels, expired October 9, 2023.

But, after taking the haul home and opening one of the items to cook it, they found that there was an additional label on the meat's vacuum-sealed packaging, which was inside the Metro wrapping.

That tag, presumably from the manufacturer, showed a best before date of September 30, 2023.

"PSA: Beware of Toronto grocery stores repackaging old meat with new best before dates (old date was hidden inside)," the citizen wrote along with a photo of the contrasting stickers on Reddit.

PSA: Beware of Toronto grocery stores repackaging old meat with new best before dates (old date was hidden inside)
byu/danke-you intoronto

"If you thought inflation wasn't bad enough..." they added. "Tried cooking it but it was definitely off, so into the bin. Be careful out there."

They also noted that the earlier expiry date was somewhat hidden inside the retailer's house packaging, facing downward on a styrofoam plate so that it couldn't be seen until after it was opened.

When asked in the comments section why they didn't bring the food back for a refund instead of posting about it online, the individual stated (very relatably) that "there was something about lugging slimy chicken back to the store to wait in a long line and argue with an overworked cashier about food labelling standards to recoup $7 that just wasn't very appealing, tbh."

The post, from the morning of October 4, has garnered all sorts of postulations about the nefarious practices of Canadian supermarket giants, from artificially jacking up prices to allegedly seasoning older meat to get it off shelves, and even crafting sandwiches and fruit cups in-house out of products that are about to go bad and can no longer be sold on their own.

Some also jumped in with their own negative experiences at Metro locations in the area, including being sold rotten goods.

The company, though, confirmed to blogTO that this was an isolated mislabelling error, and that the appropriate authorities have been notified.

"The store has been in contact with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, who determined the incident was a mistake due to handler error, and our food safety team is investigating further to work with store staff to reinforce labelling and food safety requirements," a spokesperson said.

"The store did not find any additional mislabelled products, but as a precaution, they removed all the product from this distributor to ensure nothing was missed.  We regret the inconvenience it caused our customer."