Woman in court for taking 'waste' food from Tesco bins

Hello, sorry if this doesn't belong here, just thought it was a great example of police doing what they do best - effectively wasting time and resources to protect those with most money.

When Sacha Hall realised her local Tesco was throwing away thousands of pounds of fresh food following a power cut, she thought there could be no harm in taking some to eat. But to her horror, within minutes of stocking up her fridge with packets of ham, potato waffles and pies, police swooped on her home and arrested her for theft.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Now, isn't that just great. There's thousands of pounds worth of food going to waste, kids all over the world starving, and many in the uk living below the poverty line, but Tescos doesn't want those poor folks having their cast offs for free! No, they'd rather see it in the bin than risk losing the profit of the local custom and get the police on the case!

It physically sickens me that these super markets with the highest profit margin are so protective over their waste. I'm sure there's some insurance policies that freak them out, you know in case someone gets ill from the food they've stolen. Seriously though, what happened to personal responsibility?

Here's my favourite part:

Judge Rodger Hayward Smith QC adjourned sentencing until June 20. He said: "This is more complex than I thought. She cannot consume 100 packs of ham.

Just wow. The judge is sat there on his fat wage packet to say that the case is complex cos it involves over 100 packs of ham. What do they think she's going to do with that ham, build a giant ham bomb? Start up her own sexham trafficking industry? Ham snuff films? I suppose the possibility for crime here is endless.

Maybe this lass just thought, 'wow, that's alot of ham, i'll refrigerate it and hand it out to the folks on the estate and we can all have something free for a bit and ease the pressure of spending our little bit of money on tescos, every little helps and all that.'

I see workers in supermarkets all the time throwing away perfectly good food just because it didn't sell at it's reduced price, then I leave and see people with their tescos value bread who could probably just do with a bit of something extra to eat that they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford.

Seriously, asif stealing rubbish is a crime, and asif the police will actually spend the time they're paid for to take a young woman to court over some ham and potato waffles.

'One man's rubbish is another man's treasure'. yeah right.

Not sure how it works in the UK, but here in the states,if the dumpster is on private property, you can be arrested for taking something out of it... or throwing something into it.

For all 'dumpster divers', ask first... all they can do is say 'NO'.

I agree that it is a shame for people to be arrested if they are starving, hopefully a judge will see fit to be lenient. at sentencing.

I really dont see the issue with this either.

sure, they dont want a line of people expecting free food outside every tescos - but then could they not give away still-in-date food stuffs to local homeless charity's and the like instead?

At the end of the day, its going to a waste dump or to pigeons and rats anyway - i think i prefer the feeding the people who need it first.

I agree with everything you've said.

It's disgusting that this Woman is in court over this...literally over this rubbish.

When we consider the people in finance who actually caused Millions of people to feel the need to go scavaging for thrown away food in the first place...didn't spend a day in court, let alone prison.

Which is a worse crime i wonder...scavaging food that would help feed poor families, that was only destined for a landfill site or incinerator...or depriving millions of people of their job security, earnings, homes and in many cases, their very lives to suicide and so on.

I'll have to think about that, as it's a tough one (sarcasm).

This reminds me of hundreds of years ago, where people including young children would be hanged for pinching a loaf of bread because they were starving, and while they were having their necks broken on the scaffold, the filth that sent them there were whooping it up over a veritable feast of delicacies.

The only difference here, is the food wasn't stolen, it was liberated from a destiny at a landfill to be of come use to someone.

The irony is, our councils are all spending millions of a recycling drive...and then they turn around and take people to court for recycling waste from supermarkets.

Originally posted by Biigs
I really dont see the issue with this either.

sure, they dont want a line of people expecting free food outside every tescos - but then could they not give away still-in-date food stuffs to local homeless charity's and the like instead?

At the end of the day, its going to a waste dump or to pigeons and rats anyway - i think i prefer the feeding the people who need it first.

I hate it, but I can see the issue.

If someone gets injured getting in or out of a dumpster, or dies from food poisoning, they could sue the property owner. Many places here in the US keep their dumpsters locked up in a chain link fence enclosure to avoid suits.

It is a result of our litigious society.

Originally posted by butcherguy

Originally posted by Biigs
I really dont see the issue with this either.

sure, they dont want a line of people expecting free food outside every tescos - but then could they not give away still-in-date food stuffs to local homeless charity's and the like instead?

At the end of the day, its going to a waste dump or to pigeons and rats anyway - i think i prefer the feeding the people who need it first.

I hate it, but I can see the issue.

If someone gets injured getting in or out of a dumpster, or dies from food poisoning, they could sue the property owner. Many places here in the US keep their dumpsters locked up in a chain link fence enclosure to avoid suits.

It is a result of our litigious society.

Easily avoided by putting a clear and unmissable signage on or near the food container...enter at your own risk, any injuries sustained by people entering to recover waste is entirely at your own risk...you have been warned...etc. etc.

Legal ass covered...people fed...less waste for breeding rats or filling up a landfill...win-win-win.

The unwanted stuff gets sent to use feeding pigs/composted etc and as such still has a small value to the company as they get paid for it and also they don't want the legal risks of someone getting unwell due to eating something taken from their bins

Firstly I am in no way attempting to justify the actions of the police or Tesco.

In the UK a person is guilty of theft if they unlawfully assume rights of ownership of property by selling, destroying, eating, drinking, etc an item of property to which they do not have legal good title of ownership. I suppose you could argue that under that interpretation of the law this lady is guilty of theft.

It could be that the supermarket chain has an arrangement whereby it is paid for its food waste by an agricultural business that uses it for slops and/or composting

I entirely agree that is just another example of a world gone mad.

In the UK, you are charged with 'stealing by finding' if you don't have permission of the dumpster 'owner' to go 'bin diving'.

reply to post by melancholiflower

Now, isn't that just great. There's thousands of pounds worth of food going to waste, kids all over the world starving, and many in the uk living below the poverty line, but Tescos doesn't want those poor folks having their cast offs for free! No, they'd rather see it in the bin than risk losing the profit of the local custom and get the police on the case!

It physically sickens me that these super markets with the highest profit margin are so protective over their waste.

Yeah right, until you enter the parallel universe where they do do that, and you will be ranting and raving how their food caused food poisoning and you want them to be shut down because a 5 year old kid died. And how that all the people who suffered from their tainted food they gave away should receive money for pain and suffering.

As a business owner I know exactly what they are going through. No one really cares about giving something away for free as long as they can maintain their bottom line.

Supermarkets or Groceries, (or whatever you want to call them) often do food drives, a few times a year, to raise food stocks for local food banks.

As a business owner, I understand the catch 22. I would love to give stuff away for free to people, but I must abide by local and regional public food safety regulations. Food safety and public health is priority 1 when dealing with any types of uncooked foods.

If we give food away for free, we are liable if someone gets sick from it. Any food that was improperly stored due to power failure is unsafe to eat.

Their profit margins, as you seem to suggest, did not get bigger by them throwing the food in the garbage. It was a loss. Probably not one they were happy about incurring.

No one likes throwing food away. We do so for public safety.

And for anyone who says, "Oh, but they can just cook and kill off the germs.", you can, but you can't kill of bacterial produced toxins. Toxin build up happens when food is left over 4C degrees and under 60C for long periods of time. Bacteria can reproduce factors in minutes. Going from 20 to 5000 to 100000 to 500000000000 and on and on... and they can produce toxins all along the way.

As for "Do so at your own risk" signs... That is laughable as even when people sign contacts they have still successfully sued for personal damages.

reply to post by MysterX


Better yet, Have an area INSIDE the store for food about to go out of date and simply dont put it out the back in the first place.

Anything that's out of date lock up and seal. SEAL.

Locking up the food should not be the answer, if a store decides somthing is no longer sellable, why not offer it for free and save your selves on the refuse pickup costs. Going green isnt just about turning lights off you know....

100 packs of ham could be frozen and it would last a year. I am sure the woman was planning to give some to her friends also, I would if I got that much. If you have vaccuum packed ham in your hot car for six hours, it will shorten the shelf life, and may take on a little taste, but it will be ok if eaten quickly. In the case of Tesco, the sticker is on the food, and it may be blamed on the store if someone gets sick. I understand both sides of the case, It is not a simple matter. I know someone who manages a sausage factory, they have to throw out any food that they take back from the stores, they used to let employees take it home, it was still good. The FDA stopped that, they have to have an inspector there to make sure the food is destroyed. That date on the package is a best and guaranteed safe by date. It does not mean it is not edible. Use or freeze right away.

Originally posted by pikestaff
In the UK, you are charged with 'stealing by finding' if you don't have permission of the dumpster 'owner' to go 'bin diving'.

I wonder how many stores would say yes to being asked "you have *what i deem* perfectly good food in the bins behind your store, do mind if i have a bit of a rummage at my own risk?"

"more than my jobs worth mate."

as far as theft in the uk i can't say. but in the states the main reason you can't take food out of the dumpster, food safety and because of law suits.

they are afraid someone will get food poisoning, and sue them.
my mom works in a kitchen at a hospital. she talks about how much food is being wasted everyday.
she says that hundreds if not thousands pounds of food is thrown away every day. food that not only that is prepared, also food that is packaged. they throw it all in a dumpsters behind a locked gate and a big fence all the way around it.

hell they won't even let soup kitchens come and pick it up.

if you want to see a really big waste of food find the episode of dirty jobs, and bizarre foods, both did a episode about how much food the casino's throw away and give to the pig farmer there. some of it hasn't even been touched after it was made. just a big waste.

Originally posted by rickymouse
100 packs of ham could be frozen and it would last a year. I am sure the woman was planning to give some to her friends also, I would if I got that much.

That's great, except that spores and parasites will also be frozen for a year and will come back to life as well.

If you have vaccuum packed ham in your hot car for six hours, it will shorten the shelf life, and may take on a little taste, but it will be ok if eaten quickly.

The general rule is 2 hours between temperature changes as the safest maximum time. Vacuum packing does not do anything as the bacteria can already be inside the meat. Hence why you are told to cook things to certain temperatures in the first place.

hat they take back from the stores, they used to let employees take it home, it was still good. The FDA stopped that, they have to have an inspector there to make sure the food is destroyed. That date on the package is a best and guaranteed safe by date.

That would be news to all the CTers that think the FDA is sitting around in the throne room drumming up ideas on how to kill off the population.

I think a good number of people in this thread could use a food safety handling course to learn proper food safety. While many of posters claim the government is constantly trying to kill us all in other threads, in this one they are criticizing it for not letting people engage in unsafe food consumption.

Originally posted by butcherguy
Not sure how it works in the UK, but here in the states,if the dumpster is on private property, you can be arrested for taking something out of it... or throwing something into it.

For all 'dumpster divers', ask first... all they can do is say 'NO'.

I agree that it is a shame for people to be arrested if they are starving, hopefully a judge will see fit to be lenient. at sentencing.

edit on 19-8-2013 by butcherguy because: (no reason given)

To add to what you said: also consider that due to state and federal regulations, the food MUST be discarded after a certain period of time and that the company can be held liable if someone is injured diving into their dumpster and/or gets ill from discarded food. This is not simply a case of corporate meanies.

reply to post by melancholiflower


If the judge has a banana and two plums in his pants (or if tescos it could be three plums (every little helps)) he should throw this case out of court, and thank the lady for helping to recycle said rubbish.... the person who notified the police should receive a swift kick up the trussocks... and the policeman assigned to do something useful ie some police work.. and Tesco ordered to replace all this ladys ham etc with up to date products of same... the original ham and foodstuffs should be sent to the makers of pet foods dog/cat and get processed in with whatever other tripe they put in such foods.... everyone in court should be given a €100 tesco voucher to spend on whatever they wish as a token for sitting through this whole escapade, and all live happily ever after..AMEN

reply to post by boncho


In the sausage factory my cousin works at, if there is no inspector there than no meat processing can be done at all. The smoking of the sausages can still be done, they smoke 24 hours a day. This is a smaller company, big companies still only need one inspector present at all times that processing is done, even though their production is twenty times what this company does. The sausage company is required to reimburse the government for the salary of the inspector, the taxpayer pays little for this, the consumer pays the cost who buys the product. Most people do not know this. A big salary spread out between ten times the product lowers the cost of each product to the market. Big companies have an advantage with price.

I don't agree with the way supermarkets bump the cost of premium products almost a hundred percent to sell them either, something that costs three bucks is sold for six yet they sell cheap hot dogs for twenty cents profit on a buck and a quarter package of hot dogs. This means that local people cannot enjoy locally produced foods for a reasonable price.

reply to post by MysterX

Easily avoided by putting a clear and unmissable signage on or near the food container...enter at your own risk, any injuries sustained by people entering to recover waste is entirely at your own risk...you have been warned...etc. etc.

Here is the US, there have been cases where a property owner had all the signs, fences and other obstacles that should have been sufficient to avoid a lawsuit, but enterprising attorneys found a means to sue and win for a client that was injured. They say that the fence wasn't high enough or that the sign couldn't be seen at night.

Hell, we have thieves filing suits against the homeowner (and winning) for shooting the criminal inside the home whilst they were robbing them.