Save Mart pays $1.6 million in expired food, drugs settlement

California-based Save Mart Supermarkets has agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle accusations that it sold products past their expiration date. The civil lawsuit was filed in Yolo County Superior Court by the district attorneys’ offices of San Joaquin, Solano, El Dorado, Marin, Sonoma and Yolo counties. They alleged that Save Mart sold products, including baby food, infant formula and over-the-counter medications, that were past their expiration date. The products were sold at Save Mart stores, as well as Lucky’s, FoodMax and Max Food Value stores. There is no evidence that customers were harmed by the products. Save Mart owns and operates approximately 185 supermarkets across the state. As part of the settlement, the company neither admitted nor denied negligence. Save Mart Companies responded to KCRA3: “At Save Mart Companies, the safety, freshness and quality of the products we sell are of the utmost importance. Ensuring that over-the-counter products and other regulated products are properly stocked, rotated and code dated is a key factor in ensuring consumer confidence when shopping at our stores. Save Mart Companies has a rigorous review process in place to continually monitor the expiration dates of these government-regulated code-dated products. As soon as we became aware of the issue, we acted immediately, auditing all TSMC stores to remove expired products and fully cooperated with the investigation. We appreciate the opportunity to find a solution and refine and improve our processes.” Read more top California stories here | Download our app.