While in Save A Lot on Tuesday, I bought some bratwursts for Farmer H to grill. They have the most delicious bratwursts, made in the meat department. They could teach a master class to those MEATS Hillshire Farms braggarts.
Anyhoo... you never know when Save A Lot will have those bratwursts. Before a holiday weekend, it's a pretty sure bet. Otherwise, you just take your chances. Also, you have to be on the lookout for your favorites. Only once have I found the apple version. They were so tasty that I have a standing order from Farmer H to buy several packs when they are available. We know better than to buy the jalapeno bratwursts. We are not spicy folks.
We also like the sausage patties to grill like hamburgers. This time I didn't get any, because they didn't have the plain version. They only had two kinds. Cheese. And a weird option that looked like it had chunks of something in it. I leaned over to read the label, since there was no flavor sticker on it like the other packages. It said pineapple and maple. No thanks.
Anyhoo... we don't like the cheese version of the sausages. Tried the cheese bratwursts one time and didn't like the taste. So I know not to buy them. This time, I didn't see any plain bratwursts, despite looking several packs down in case they were hidden. I only saw the cheese, jalapeno, and bacon. BACON! Now that's something I figured Farmer H would enjoy.
I bought two packs of the bacon bratwursts. That's 10 sausages total. Farmer H grilled them on Wednesday night, for us to have the rest of the week. I sat down to eat, and kept waiting for the bacon flavor to hit me. It didn't. Something was off. Something that wasn't just plain sausage taste.
THERE WAS CHEESE IN MY BRATWURST!
I hollered into the living room to Farmer H. Telling him I couldn't taste the bacon, and that my bratwurst had CHEESE in it. He said his did, too!
That is deceptive marketing! How dare Save A Lot meat department staff slap BACON stickers on bratwursts that were clearly CHEESE! It would be bad enough if they ran out of cheese stickers, and just left the package looking like plain bratwursts. But to deliberately label them as bacon is wrong!
Farmer H has already disposed of the packages. So I can't look at the label that lists the weight and price and expiration dates, to see if that part also says bacon. Or if it says cheese, or nothing at all.
I'm not taking grilled bratwursts back to the store to demand a refund. It's not like they're poison. We'll eat them. But how can I ever trust Save A Lot again? I can't open up the package and slice a bratwurst to see what's inside the casing!
I wish the mom of Genius's old friend still worked there. You can bet I would bring up the issue with HER, and have her inquire about such a dastardly trick. There's never a manager around when I'm in there. I might mention it to one of the regular checkers, and ask if anyone else has complained about it. That's sure to get me nowhere. But my voice will be heard!
4 comments:
I hate getting something differently flavoured than what I was expecting. I'd be rummaging through the bin for the packaging and taking it back to the shop. I would also email the company head office.
River,
That takes a lot more effort that complaining anonymously on a super-secret blog, or mouthing off to a cashier who has nothing to do with stocking meat! I don't think I have dug through the trash since that snippy little gal threw way my METAL FORK at Farmer H's retirement BBQ.
What if somebody has a food allergy, and eats that trigger food in mis-labeled bratwursts??? Then they should definitely complain. If they live long enough...
Don't complain to the cashier, the meat department butcher is the one to tell. It might get you a batch of the plain ones you like for free!
Kathy,
I rarely see the butcher any more. It's been years. I imagine one of his lackeys slapped the wrong label on the packages. Perhaps out of ignorance, perhaps out of laziness. Unless it's a scheme to get people to buy more sausages. BACON flavored things are pretty popular. It's not like they're mis-labeling them as CHICKEN LIVER flavor!
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