First of all, all Safeway's are notorious for under ripe fruit and produce, this one is no exception. Sure they say you can bring it back, but when you are on a hike or trip and the orange you bite into with anticipation of juicy goodness is pithy and horrible not exactly the refreshment you count on while out on the trail. now try explaining that and the reassurance of returning it for a refund to a bunch of toddlers in tow who are all spitting it out and now fussing! thanks for the win safeway! the reason for this is because they are lazy! they buy all their produce on line, sight unseen without actually sampling any of it, then passing it on to us to do the quality control, offering the no-effort on their part refund, for which they are counting on people just throwing it away and not seeking the refund, basically counting on their customers being "suckers".
That is not the real issue of this post, (this time) despite all the grey meat and oddly smelling pork and chicken that I have bought at this location, the real concern here is the FISH! (this time).
Having been a commercial fisherman for many years in the past I am qualified to comment here ( certainly more than Safeway as evidence shows).
once again the laziness and lack of regard for quality (much like with the produce and meats) is at play here.
none of their fresh fish is on ice here. Simply keeping the temp down in the display is never really enough. fresh fish and shellfish needs to sit on a bed of ice. cold air only dries it out. case in point, between visits (3 days apart) I saw the very same slab of salmon which at the time of the first visit had already started looking like salmon jerky. but by now it was looking like a little better than a catchers mitt! the prawns were siting in a slurry of foul looking water with a nasty sheen. the shells by now had taken an unhealthy look and color. the clams and mussels were hard to tells they were bagged but the ooze in the tray was alarming, and a huge warning flag.
The oysters on the other hand were individually visible. they were completely stored improperly. without a bed of ice, the cannot be kept at a safe temperature to insure their survival until consumption. they must also be be stored with the deep part of the shells down. why this is important? because oysters retain a bit of liquid in their shells to keep themselves alive. and being bivalves they need to periodically breath, so they will occasionally open up, but if the shadow side is down, they loose all that "oyster liquor " then die. which turns them toxic.
what does that mean to the consumer? dinner party ruined, a return Safeway for a refund of a very expensive purchase, or worse yet (and not unlikely) getting sick and possibly death. talk about a dinner party fail!
Looking at the way they treat shellfish and fish in general, I would advise not ever buying any fish products from Safeway. they are clearly too irresponsible to supply a safe product. it is just a mater of time before they kill someone.
Weeks before posting this comment I spoke with the store manager, told him of my concerns, he thanked me, but nothing changed. clearly these people don't really care. could this be why they are constantly clearing out the poultry section or the meat section? supposedly tossing out product to clean shelves when rotten products are found? and who pays for that? we the consumers !
this store is a great example of how lax food quality and safety concerns is for Safeway then putting it off for the consumer to deal with. It puts customers heath and safety at risk for a dangerous food poisoning but is of little concern to Safeway.
Alternatives would be nob hill, Scotts valley market or better yet for fresh fish H&H market. read more