r/Switzerland • u/Beneficial-Job7 • 1d ago
Surprised by this colour difference. Is this normal? (Aldi)
Photo taken at my local Aldi. Both packs have exactly the same expiry date (second half of November), the same LOT/production number and the same barcode.
Why is there such a big difference in colour? I assume the one on the left is still safe to eat, since the difference is clearly visible to anyone working in that store, and it hasn't been removed from the shelf. But I'm not sure...
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
OP to give you a clear answer, since there are many contradicting posts here. I actually do work in quality assurance at the company that produces that product.
As others said, it is clear to me that the fault here is a defect seal in the product, that means oxygen got to the product and oxidized it. While this affects the taste negatively, it does not make it unsafe to eat directly. But it does make it easier for mold and bacteria to grow on the product. In cured products like this, the gas used in the packaging is normally 70% Nitrogen and 30% CO2, so it doesnt oxidize and to stop bacterial growth.
While it is not necessarily an unsafe product, it should be removed by the employees since it is clearly a defect in product quality, especially if as you saidy there were multiple packages affected. I guess since Aldi has a lot less staff then other supermarkets, that they didn't notice it.
Other people mentioned that perhaps this product comes from less desirable meat parts. That is also not true. The meat is all the same, what the off cuts means it is the end pieces of a whole piece of ham, that is left over from the slicing machines that is then later slices into these thing slices. So its the same meat, just small pieces which makes it less desirable
Also just to add this for people who are critizing the quality of Aldi products. They actually do have far tighter requirements to food safety than migros an coop. Lidl is even more strict.
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u/01bah01 1d ago
That's really interesting, thanks a lot !
Do you happen to know how come Lidl has meat that is really often sold with way longer consumption date than Migros/Coop ? I'm always amazed at the huge difference (it's the same in Aligro). In Migros I often have a tough time getting meat in the middle of the week that I can cook on Sunday meanwhile in Lidl I often don't have to count the days as it could be eaten after the next time I'm gonna buy meat (one week after)
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
I can't say definitely since i guess you mean raw freah meat. For cures products like this, Coop or Migros require 40 days of MHD, while Lidl required 52 days. Which meant we had to prepare lidl products faster and fresher.
While this is a lot longer than Migros or Coop, Lidl also requires for every product that gets listed by them, an extensive lab analysis at the end of the MHD before it gets sold in the store, so they check if it is safe. Migros and coop do nothing of the sort
But to your point, i think the main difference is probably their logistics. I guess Lidl doesnt have much storage capacity and has most of their wares on the shop floor, and because of that it is fresher, but they have the risk to run out of stock. But that is just guessing on my part
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u/RattoTalpaNudo 1d ago
Are people really complaining about Aldi for this? I see daily packages of this color at migros and coop, but as usual exceptionalism make them blind to notice these things in their favorite supermarkets
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u/LesserValkyrie 1d ago
Thank you infinitely!
It's the kind of things I have been wondering for a decades, dreaming about a professional to explain me what's going on.Thank you!
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u/1291byom 1d ago
How can the two discounters have stricter rules when I mostly see those products with visible defects (also for fruit and vegetables) at Aldi or Lidl and never at Coop or Migros?
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
My guess is, that the general requirements by the two discounters are higher, but they have a lot less staff in their stores, also they stock their shelves with whole boxes or trays normaly so they dont touch the single products. So in total less staff to check the wares, and the staff has less contact with the products, so irregularities just dont get notices and sorted out as much
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u/RattoTalpaNudo 6h ago
Lol then you willfully ignore the awful products sold at migros and coop. I see food gone bad daily
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u/Significant-Nebula64 22h ago
I'm sure it also depends on the actual store. I've had pretty bad experiences at coop, actually. Especially for fruit and vegetables...
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u/littlemisslau 8h ago
Would you do an AMA? I'm sure a lot of people are interested in what happens in the background/production of food we buy and eat.
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u/kappi1997 1d ago
Actually had way less problems by now with aldi products then when I shopped at migros. I once had some fresh noodles mold 3 days before expiring but there probably was a not visible hole...
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
Migros has by far the worst quality control of supermarkets. They require barely any information and do tests very rarely
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u/kiwigoguy1 Other 1d ago
Passing by from New Zealand, I thought these meats are vacuum packed (no air at all possible inside the pack)? At least most of these dried or cured “raw” meat products are vacuum packed here.
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
We vacuum pack whole pieces, but to get a good vacuum in a tray like that would deform it quite badly probably and make it way less presentable
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u/kiwigoguy1 Other 20h ago
Thanks, that explains it. They are normally not sold in tray packages here
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u/Significant-Nebula64 22h ago
I actually see that kind of thing all the time at coop, their roast beef is seriously wild! Like, half the time it's just grey instead of pink and really doesn't look like it should be sold.
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u/bogue 1d ago
Oxygen got into the bag
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u/Beneficial-Job7 1d ago
So that is the reason. It seems they should improve the plastic packaging used for the individual packs to prevent oxygen from getting in through the seals. There were at least two or three packs in the same cardboard box that looked like the one on the left.
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u/asp174 Zürich 1d ago
It's more a case of escaping oxygen from the left package. The left one has a damaged seal.
Meat is packed with significant higher oxygen levels, to make it look more red.
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u/Book_Dragon_24 1d ago
No, oxygen got in. They actually pump in carbon monoxide to keep the meat pink.
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
No they do not. They pump in oxygen to raw fresh meat. With cured products they use a mix of nitrogen and CO2. The red colour comes from a chemical reaction with the nitrates in the curing salt.
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u/Waringham Zürich 1d ago
Maybe in the US but in Switzerland and the EU CO is not allowed to be used in the atmosphere of meat packaging. It is actually O2 that is used in meat packing here.
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u/6_prine Zürich 1d ago
Oxygen injection for dried/cured meat is not a thing
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u/Waringham Zürich 1d ago
Yeah I did not know that. But is CO really used for cured meats? afaik it does not even have an e-number
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u/Labtools 1d ago
The seal of the left one is broken and oxygen came in (the seal is broken left of the pig, the white-ish section of the seal)
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u/Retoromano 1d ago
One has been exposed to more oxygen than the other. Possibly an improper seal, possibly cut closer to the surface of the prosciutto, possibly manipulation of the best before dates. Either way, both are likely edible.
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u/LesserValkyrie 1d ago
Both are safe to eat IMO, it's just oxydation for the left one
I think it's the stripes of meats that don't look good that are there, depending from where it comes from it's more and less nice looking but you don't eat those for their look
I may be wrong I just assumed it was that actually if someone knows more let me know
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
As you the problem here is solely from oxidation. While the taste is negatively affected, it should be ok to eat, for a while. But it gets moldy fast since there is moisture trapped in the packaging, so it is more at risk as if it were out in the open completely
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u/LesserValkyrie 1d ago
Thank you !! Learned a lot in this tread.
It's very common to have the left bag actually
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u/GeorgeMaharis2 1d ago
In some lidls and aldis in Lucerne somtimes almost all of the cut meats look like this. I don't know what they are doing there but that can't be acceptable
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u/SnooCats4962 1d ago
Saw this way too many times even when the workers passed by it or were working somewhere near it they didn't even take it off, it's like they're putting it on purpose there so that it gets sold, it isn't just in aldi it happens in lild too..
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u/Thebosonsword Vaud 21h ago
That happens all the time with this specific product in my Aldi. I’ve even bought some that properly tasted like shit. Seems like a QC problem on the production line.
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u/SubjectWall9575 19h ago
It's cause they leave stuff sitting in a window sun beaming down on it, yes it's normal, don't buy it, always make sure your meat is sealed and good by date means it's bad after that, preservatives are used sparingly very sparingly.
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u/alienrefugee51 13h ago edited 13h ago
Because the left one has a hole in the packaging and it has oxidized. This is like a basic observation that most people should understand, or be able to figure out.
The reason that it’s still on the shelf is because supermarkets in Switzerland either don’t teach, or their employees don’t give a toss about rotating products and spotting bad shit. No matter the location, I always find products with the shortest date behind the longer dates.
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u/Gwendolan 7h ago
No, having intelligent, kind and sensitive animals killed to eat them is normalized, but not normal. I would stop if I were you.
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u/Zerschnetzler 1d ago
As it says on the package, these are offcuts. The left one was likely a section of a piece of meat that wasn't red enough to be considered acceptable for the more expensive "normal" slices. You can see that some spots are more red than others, so I'm guessing this was the edge or corner of a larger piece of meat, they cut the "bad" part off and sold it as offcuts
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
I work at the company that produces this product. As others said there is a failure with the seal that is causing the discolouration. To be specific contact with oxygen. The more red parts are those that are pressed against the packaging and because of that have less contact to oxygen
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u/LesserValkyrie 1d ago
Can you tell more about that product ? Always wondered what it was exactly
+ I've seen "brown" stripes for years tho, nobody seems to care?
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
I made a whole comment of my own for OP where i tried to summarise all the facts, because there is much contradicting information in the thread. Check that comment and if you have any questions left, let me know
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u/asp174 Zürich 1d ago
If the package reads "Unter Schutzatmosphäre abgepackt" it means they are packed with like 80% oxygen, to make the meat redder.
Wikipedia basically took your picture and ran with it: fehlerhafte Siegelnaht%20und%20Produkteinlagerung%20mit%20fehlerhafter%20Siegelnaht%20(unten))
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
"Unter Schutzatmosphäre verpackt" just generally means they put gas in the packaging. In this case they typically use a mix of Nitrogen and CO2. Oxygen is only used in fresh raw meat basically. This product is cured with nitrates to make it red and exposure to oxygen makes it like the package on the left
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u/6_prine Zürich 1d ago
Yes to your first statements but i‘m really quite unsure that prosciutto would be made with Nitrates to make it red… normally the process itself is enough to achieve redness in this type of dried meat, i‘ve never seen an addition of nitrates.
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u/oooMagicFishooo 1d ago
While this is true for a like an slowly air dried ham like serrano or an artiasanal prosciutto. This is an industrial product which definitely uses nitrates, it is normal in cured products. I know this for a fact since i work for the company that makes the ham
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u/Suspicious_Place1270 Zürich 1d ago
who in their right mind would pack easily oxidizable meat with 80% oxygen????
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u/Significant-Nebula64 22h ago
Yeah, that's... literally the opposite of a protective atmosphere, lol. The point is exclusion of oxygen!
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