Supermarket Fresh fruit and vegetables going off quicker?

I always go for UK grown vegetables so import delays will not be the cause of the problem with carrots. That said, there may be an issue with local transportation, how this can affect vegetables grown across the UK & distributed into many supermarket chains?

No farm shops here for miles, but a street market within a long stroll so I’ll try that.

£1.50 is a bit of a difference
You have a point though, if this has been going on for months - why has nothing been implemented to stop it happening? It is such a waste of food

I do hope everyone is complaining about this and/or getting a replacement. We are making ourselves quite unpopular at our local Tesco. Added to this we have experienced a sloppy attitude to shelf filling in the shops with incorrect prices being displayed. To give one example : Jersey Royals were advertised as £1 but we were charged £2.50. It was the 750gr that were on offer but the notice was placed in front of the 1kilo pack . Grr!

If it is stuff coming into the UK I would imagine that the problems caused by congestion on ferries might be relevant. The collapse of P and O has had significant impact and delays for trucks getting out of the UK may also have a knock-on effect. I have travelled to the UK twice in the last few weeks and the volume of extra trucks on the longer crossings has been noticeable.

I went to Morrison's last Saturday and the fruit and veg was in a dreadful state...it used to be so good. Are they turning down the air con in warehouses to save money?

Glad it's not just me! Used a whole bag of potatoes from Tesco for roasting today. Bought 2 days ago, kept in dark, already sprouting and many binned with black spots all the way through! Same issue as you all with grapes and strawberries though DS just gave us all some of his strawberry plants so hope they will be better. Not even as if they are kept. for long. Made banana loaf from the going brown bananas!

Me too. Yesterday’s carrots from Tesco, emptied from the bag into the salad drawer, we’re slimy this afternoon. It’s reassuring to read your comments.

Callistemon21

^The potatoes were awful^
They were from Tesco.

My potatoes were from Sainsbury's and they turned wet and had a peculiar smell. Carrots, green beans, broccoli, and cauliflower seem to get mould the day after they are delivered. One packet of salad leaves was like seaweed. Also, the onions and garlic all seem to have green shoots and the peaches perfect from the outside but rotten within.
We haven't got a garden to grow our own so are now on the look out for a farmers market.

Again, I thought it was just me, being unlucky, but it’s all too frequent now. I don’t remember potatoes sprouting eyes in such a short time as they do now. Grapes, too, go slimy and mouldy more quickly. Mandarins go mouldy if we keep them more than a few days and bananas go brown. I’ve taken to buying loose fruit and veg from a farm shop a few miles away. It lasts a lot longer and this is what I’m trying to do despite the big hike in petrol costs. I haven’t noticed a problem with meat so far but we don’t use a lot. I’ve thrown quite a lot of stuff in the recycling bin but I'm trying to buy smaller quantities and to use them up quickly between farm shop visits.

Never put tomatoes in the fridge or buy them if they have been refrigerated, they lose all flavour.
I have always bought from the same market stall, I rarely have a problem and if I do mention something was off they always replace it.

I put kitchen towel in my salad drawer which i change regular (old goes in the composter)

O am glad it wasn't just my imagination (or my fridge!!)

Lovely carrots for dinner today which DH bought in Tesco yesterday.
They were pre-packed too.

I find lining the vegetable and salad drawers in the fridge with J cloths helps, emptying the veg out of any bags first.

Carrots!

I thought it was just me.
Those sold in plastic bags on the shelves are already wet & rot down within a day or so. Organic no better & I have tried Waitrose, Sainsbury’s & Tesco - all the same. M&S slightly better condition on the shelf so last longer.

I have taken to buying loose carrots in the supermarket, picking over the bin for any not already wet at the ends & using the brown paper bags for mushrooms to get them home.

The other week the loose carrot bin in Waitrose was full of slime. I told the assistant who checked the bin, he promptly pulled the whole bag out of the bin, apologised profusely & opened up the fresh bag underneath. They were already wet.

What is going on?

I think they freeze them badly or leave them too long to defrost. I’ve noticed in Morrisons a lot of the pre packaged fruit and vegetables are wet with condensation inside the packaging.

I'm on holiday in Cornwall and had a shopping delivery on Friday with bananas for the GC to have at the beach. I had to throw them all away.

I’ve found this for a while now. Carrots were the worst offender. These days I remove all the plastic packaging and keep root veg except for potatoes in the fridge.

I’ve been meaning to shop at the local indoor market for ages now so maybe this is the week to start.

this is strange. not fruit & veg, cheese. just today, so glad i noticed it, rather than using it in evening gloom. bag of grated cheddar, from lidl, unopened. date 2 weeks ahead. visible green moldy bits seen through the clear packet.
never happened before.
i wonder if shops are storing things differently, or using v old stock taken out of deep freezer ??

Pre-packed tomatoes are awful - they're never really properly ripe either. I've had to throw out some carrots today (which I hate doing) because they'd gone from being fine to rotten and dripping within a couple of days.

I agree as well. I used to be able to shop once a week but now I have to go at least twice to ensure I have fresh vegetables. I find pre-packed tomatoes go soft very quickly.

I've just opened a bag of Jersey Royals which came with our Tesco delivery yesterday. They are absolutely awful. I've had to throw some away.

I thought it was only me noticing this. Oranges rotting within a few dyas of being bought, they used to last weeks and dry out not rot!

I buy most of my fruit and veg from a market stall and it is little better - especially grapes.

No problem with potatoes though, they may sprout, but i can just knock these off.

The potatoes were awful
They were from Tesco.

Yes.
I thought it was because I was having groceries delivered but the other week I went int M&S posh of all places, bought the more expensive satsumas posher because the ones on offer looked under-ripe.

Three developed mould within a couple of days.
It has happened with fruit from several places.

The potatoes were awful and they haven't travelled far.

I'm reverting to few and loose when I buy fruit & veg nowadays. Packs were not staying fresh enough to marry my consumption.

I've found that potatoes can go off within a few days and have a foul smelling liquid dripping from them.

We started to get them from the local farm shop and they are better probably because they haven't been washed and then packed in plastic.

I bought a bunch of carrots from the farm shop with fresh green tops but they looked a bit worse for wear next day!