Cat Food Disposed Of

Unopened items end up in the trash at the discount store

Cats would likely find a quick use for a full bag of food. The fact that unopened items must be disposed of after an exchange is causing frustration among customers in Jennersdorf.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/sharafmaksumov – stock.adobe.com, knipserbb -stock.adobe.com)

Outrage over disposal practices in Burgenland: Even an unopened package of cat food cannot be donated to a food bank after an exchange. One customer calls it wasteful, while the discount grocery store cites a safety risk.

It wasn’t he himself who made the mistake, but his 85-year-old mother-in-law, the customer told the “Krone.” To this day, he still doesn’t understand what was supposed to happen to the large, originally packaged bag afterward.

The 85-year-old realized her mistake after leaving the store. Her son-in-law took the unopened, large package and returned to the store with it. Could he exchange the cat food for the correct variety? No problem, the cashier explained.

Then the Jennersdorf resident asked where he should put the wrong package. The answer took him aback: He had to throw it away. The cat food had already left the store and therefore could no longer be passed on to anyone else.

The package was still sealed. We had just stepped outside the store.

Der verärgerte „Krone“-Leser

“The package was still sealed. We had just stepped outside the store,” the man said angrily. He doesn’t understand why perfectly good pet food has to be thrown away. So he pressed the issue: If Hofer couldn’t take the food back, why not donate it to the food bank? That wasn’t an option either.

This also applies to goods that “appear undamaged”
Hofer confirmed to the “Krone”: Products that have left the store after purchase and are subsequently returned or exchanged are neither resold nor donated to charitable organizations. This also applies to goods in their original packaging and those that appear undamaged on the outside.

The reason: It’s impossible to know what happened to a product once it was carried out the store door. Incorrect temperatures, direct sunlight, or damage cannot be ruled out. And not every defect is visible from the outside.

Bitter Memories of the HiPP Scandal
The fact that “in original packaging” does not automatically mean “untouched” was most recently demonstrated by the poison scandal involving HiPP baby food. In Austria, rat poison was discovered in a jar of baby food; the suspected perpetrator is currently in pretrial detention. According to the manufacturer, the products left the factory in perfect condition and are believed to have been tampered with only afterward.

Hofer wants to rule out precisely such damage—which is not visible from the outside—in the case of returns. As soon as the controlled supply and storage chain is interrupted, product safety can no longer be adequately guaranteed.

The customer understands that the discount store has to protect itself. Still, he has one objection: “If I really wanted to do something like that, I could do it right in the store,” he says. For him, as an employee of the food bank, it remains incomprehensible why the entire package has to be thrown away.

Not all surplus ends up in the trash
In general, however, not all surplus goods at Hofer end up in the trash. According to the company, food is regularly donated to social service organizations, and goods that can no longer be sold are also sent to farms. Through “Too Good To Go” and “Unverschwendet,” the discounter also saves food from the trash.