Caveat Emptor

by Mark R. Vogel

At the very least you should always inspect the highly perishable products, namely meat, seafood and produce. Lets review all three.

Produce is the easiest to examine since it is out in the open, unfettered from cases or clerks for your analysis. Each vegetable has its own freshness criteria but in general you are looking for firm, brightly colored specimens with no signs of wilting, damage, or discoloration.

If the selection of the vegetable in question is unsatisfactory, I strongly recommend you ask a produce employee if they have a fresher supply in the back.

Many times they will as the store is endeavoring to rid themselves of as much of the old product before restocking. Of course, it also depends on the willingness of the employee to retrieve it for you.

A simple "no we don't have any more" and Joe Lazy doesn't have to expend any additional energy. You'll come to learn through practice which store's employees are more customer oriented.

Beef and seafood are more troublesome since they are often within a case, which the law prevents you from getting behind. You're forced to ask the clerk to fetch it and display it to you, or you must order it and then open the package and scrutinize it yourself.

Whichever you choose, do it. Most employees are diligent but some are not. Some just want to throw the stuff in a bag and get onto the next customer.

Some may be ignorant of the product and don't know that open oysters that won't close are dead, (reluctantly giving you-know-who the benefit of the doubt). And some may actually want to dump inferior product on you. So always check.