Egay Uy .
I EARLIER wrote about a known supermarket whose officials simply ignored (so I thought) the complaint that I filed before the Department of Trade and Industry Provincial Office. It was about a pint of yogurt that appeared to have prematurely expired. The email of the DTI to the supermarket appeared to have been ignored. My follow-up email also befell a similar fate.
After more than one month since the filing of my complaint, we were finally able to sit down with the DTI in a mediation conference. In fairness to the supermarket, the store manager and assistant store manager arrived at the mediation venue ahead of the scheduled time. I arrived just a few minutes before the schedule.
As I have expressed during the mediation conference, my primary purpose for having the matter referred to the DTI was hopefully for the supermarket to institute measures that would prevent the recurrence of the incident which was the subject matter of the complaint.
The complaint stemmed from the pint of yogurt that I purchased but which appeared and smelled to be unfit for consumption. It appeared to have already been spoiled even before the indicated expiration date.
At the mediation, the store representatives surmised that the item may have been taken out of the store chiller by a shopper but who decided later, after going around the supermarket searching for items to buy, not to go ahead with the purchase and simply left the item outside of the chiller.
To my question as to how many hours or minutes may a pint of yogurt be taken out of its cooler container before it may be spoiled, the store representatives were later able to inquire from the supplier who reportedly said that a pint of yogurt will be spoiled if taken out of the chiller for more than two hours.
A little peek at the Internet revealed that according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, yogurt should be thrown out if it is taken out at room temperature for more than two hours. If the temperature is higher than 90 degrees Faherenheit (32 degrees Celsius), yogurt may be consumed within only one hour after it is taken out of the refrigerator or chiller.
May this serve as a guide for those who love yogurt.
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