Richard De Santa, spokesman for the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., parent of both A&P and Food Emporium, said company policy prohibits selling expired products. He called the survey results unsatisfactory and said, "We are communicating that fact - and reiterating the need to follow our procedures - to our field and store level management."
Brown said nearly half of all the expired products has passed their date by 10 or more days. Cheese, yogurt and vacuum-packed meat were most commonly expired.
Three Costcos, two Trader Joe's and a Stew Leonard's were the only stores with no outdated dairy items, Brown said. "This investigation shows why consumers must check the sale date when they shop for perishable food products," Brown said. "Some stores are doing a good job of removing outdated foods and others are failing miserably."
He suggested that consumers should be especially careful about items on the top or bottom shelves of the dairy case, where inspectors found many outdated items.
All of the 53 stores with expired items were issued warnings and will be penalized if problems persist, the county said.
