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posted by janrinok on Tuesday October 22 2019, @01:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the check-the-dates dept.

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

Amazon is shipping expired food, from baby formula to old beef jerky, scaring consumers and putting big brands at risk

Amazon's spokesperson said the company uses a combination of humans and artificial intelligence to monitor the 22 million-plus pieces of customer feedback received weekly for product quality and safety concerns. Amazon may remove products or suspend an account if the seller violates its policies.

"We work hard to make sure customers receive high-quality products when they order from our store," the spokesperson said. "We have robust processes in place to ensure customers receive products with sufficient shelf life.

"If customers have concerns about items they've purchased, we encourage them to contact our Customer Service directly and work with us so we can investigate and take appropriate action," the spokesperson added.

[...]Amazon says it feeds data from suspended listings and accounts into its AI systems so they can get better at detection and at blocking suspicious activity. Human moderators can also trigger an investigation if they receive feedback suggesting a product is unsafe. In the food category, Amazon uses a database called "Heartbeat" to monitor customer commentary through reviews, phone calls, emails and seller feedback for safety issues.

Even with all these tools, several consultants who advise sellers say Amazon needs to rely on more than just customer complaints and refunds to catch expired foods. They argue that Amazon needs to devise new strategies to police the marketplace more effectively and improve detection of questionable products, while strictly enforcing its policies when third-party sellers break the rules.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Tuesday October 22 2019, @01:28PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Tuesday October 22 2019, @01:28PM (#910279)

    It never ceases to amaze me how many people think expiration dates on canned food mean something. Canned food is stable - that's the whole point of canning. So long as the can isn't punctured, the contents will remain good almost indefinitely. The expiration date is there primarily to get stores (and individuals) to throw away perfectly good food and buy more. It *might* start to taste funny eventually, as chemical degradation slowly breaks down the complex molecules but that's usually no noticeable until long after the expiration date.

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