SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
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.
Also at:
(Score: 4, Interesting) by richtopia on Tuesday October 22 2019, @03:36PM
I volunteered at a food sorting center for donated food; they had a chart on the wall listing what they considered acceptable ranges for expiry. Similar to the canned food section of this document: http://site.foodshare.org/site/DocServer/Foodshare_Food_Dating_Guidelines_revised.pdf?docID=5901 [foodshare.org]
The quick summary:
Vegetables are some of the shortest (1-3 years depending on acidity, your tomatoes are high acid)
Meats and beans can keep longer
The can may be dented but cannot be swollen (botulism)
For canned products, keeping something longer than a few years is not a large health risk. The bigger issue is the nutrition of the contents degrades; if you eat a ten year old can of green beans you are probably only gaining some dietary fiber from that meal.