Expiry date of bread 'extended'

Expiry date of bread 'extended'

In August, local bread chain BreadTalk was found to have been pouring Yeo's brand packaged soya bean milk into its bottles and labelling them as "freshly prepared" in the store.

This misleading business practice led it later to issue a statement apologising for its "misaligned presentation or wrong impression".

Its founder and chairman George Quek went on to state that his company "strives to deliver quality products to customers and adhere to the highest ethical standards" ("Soya bean milk saga: 50,000 free buns and $50,000 donation as BreadTalk makes amends"; ST Online, Aug 21).

However, as the following incident will attest, I am not convinced the company is truly contrite about such practices.

On Tuesday, I bought a pack of Hokkaido Dome bread from its Tampines Mall outlet.

Before consuming it the next morning, I noticed that the "Best Before Nov 19" sticker was pasted over another "Best Before" sticker.

When I used a torchlight to shine through the sticker, I could see that the first sticker stated an earlier expiry date of Nov 18.

As BreadTalk is manufacturing items for human consumption, I am very concerned that its apologies for "misaligned presentation" and assurances of "highest ethical standards" were merely lip service.

Louis Peh


This article was first published on Nov 20, 2015.
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