I have worked in the Deli at my local Safeway supermarket for close to 12 months now and the following points are a few things I have learnt that I believe customers should be aware of. Please note that this may not apply to all Safeway supermarkets, but are experiences I have had in my particular place of employment.

1. When buying cold meats, buy the sliced variety instead of shaved. Freshly shaved sandwich meats have been mixed in with the dry, 3 day old crap to make stock stretch further.
2. When buying sausages from the deli, always ask for them fresh from the cool room. When a sausage starts to look dry and reddened on top, it is simply turned over to hide its appearance.
3. Never buy chicken out of the case. Either opt for prepacked varieties out of the meat department or once again, ask for it fresh from the cool room. Chicken cases are cleaned out once a week and during that clean, your chicken is left on the bench usually for 30 – 45 minutes.
4. To buy a frankfurt that is actually fresh is a very rare occurrence. Unsold franks are not taken out of the bowl and dumped until they are slimy and can be smelt from a few metres away …. Event then, the fresh franks will go back into the dirty bowl until they are cleaned and replaced on Saturday.
5. Prepacked salads can be risky. We once had 4 boxes of coleslaw and pasta salads left out of the cool room for more than a few hours time and the manager put them in the display cabinet the next day ready for sale. Ask for salads fresh from your deli staff.
6. Sometimes the fish we sell as “fresh” has been frozen …. probably best to buy your fish on the day instead of trusting what you are told.
7. Cleaning is always done in the presence of food. There are no great lengths taken to ensure your meats are not being exposed to our cleaners such as bleach, glass cleaner and sanitizing solutions.
8. Chickens are never thrown out when they are supposed to be. A cooked chicken is supposed to be reduced to clear after 4 hrs and thrown away after 6 …. this never happens
9. Temperature checks are to be done 3 times a day. Anything reading over 5 degrees is to be thrown out. Temp checks are rarely done, records are usually fabricated and if a product is warmer than 5 degrees we lie and say it was more like 3.

Hopefully this gives more of an idea to the unsuspecting consumer as to what they really are purchasing from the “Fresh food people”. Please be mindful and aware when making your next stop at the local deli and be sure to ask staff to get it fresh for you if ever in doubt … it’s our job … we are there to serve.