Indian Grocery Stores

Hi Ladies,

Most of you here I presume are in different parts of the US for years together. I just wanted to take your opinions on something that I noticed with the Indian grocery stores.

I shop in a couple of Indian grocery stores in the place where we live - Philadelphia. I have noticed that when they bill the items, the bills don't have a proper description and it just reads as item 1, item 2, etc. Also items like spice powders, ready to eat mix, oil, atta and other flours do not have expiry dates in them.

I'm not sure whether it is the same with Indian grocery stores in many places in the US. But I noticed the same issue with some Indian stores in Dallas too when we had been there.

I'm sure most of the Indian items that we frequently shop in Indian stores are imported from India. Isn't it essential to have expiry dates listed? What if we buy some expired stuff and kids, expecting moms or elderly people eat it? Also, why don't they have proper descriptions on the bill? Isn't it convenient to quickly check the rate and the items we purchase?

I don't find this problem with any of the American departmental stores here. I'm not telling this to let down Indian by anyway. I love my country and I am happy to be with our people and long to get our Indian things here.

But just curious why this happens?!

Yes,I agree with you totally.

I am quite new to this forum and to the U.S.But I stayed in NY for about a month last Nov and I am now settled in Sacramento ,CA from this Jan.In NY and in CA also,the Indian Grocery stores do not list the names of the items on the bills neither do they carry an expiry date.

I have myself decided not to buy a lot of items if the expiry date is not mentioned for eg. pickles,custard powder etc.But there are some items which we cannot do without like grated coconut,which I am forced to buy even if there is no expiry date.

Sometimes,if we don't know the rates of the items being purchased off-hand, we will never be able to know just by looking at the bill at a later time.This is really sad.

Sometimes,I have found oils with expiry dates on them, but they will still be displayed at the counters even after the expiry.Typically an oil has a lifetime of 2-3 yrs.Does it mean that in this fast age,the oil from India takes that long to reach the U.S.!!!

I only hope the situation improves.

Hi,

I live in newjersey, I also face the same problem. Sometime back

I got noodles pocket from Indian grocery stores. When I prepared it

it was not good, the masala smelled really bad. Then I was searing for

the expiry date, there was none. I throwed away the entire thing.

I saw the same stuff was on discount sale in the same shop for a

quite long time. The shopowners should consider the health effects

of selling stale and old items. Apart from profit making atleast they

should consider the people`s health.

Some frozen vegetables have no expiry date. They stay in the

shelves for long long time. Something should be done to prevent this.

But I don`t know how?

I also live in NJ and what you guys are saying is very very true. Couple of times, this thing happened. One time when I bought mochai, it tasted very bitter(old stock) and recently, bought Golden temple wheat flour and after opening, full of bugs!! Can u believe?

It is better to buy in big and fast moving indian stores like in NJ, patel cash & carry, subzi mandi etc. Near my place, there is an Indian shop and long time back, used to buy milk and started facing this problem like if I would take the curd, a long string will come out-all becoz of the brand. After that, we stopped buying totally from that shop. And, also saw these fungus sits on the box sweets.

Anyways, I can keep on going n no. of problems, unfortunately.

And abt the bills, yes, wherever you go Indian stores, same thing will happen.

Hi Ami

I too faced this problem of old stock.I got wheat flour (branded one) which I usually buy here and found some worms/bugs in it.Nowadays,I've made it a habit to sieve the flour before using it even to make rotis .The problem is also that flours come in huge quantities and once you see the problem,you still are forced to use it since you pay about 10 dollars per bag of 10kg flour.It is really frustrating.

Recently ,I saw bugs in rice and toor dhal bags too.I buy stuff from a fast moving indian grocery store only,even then I face this problem.

However,I take care to buy most of my grocery from American stores like Safeway,Albertsons,Raleys etc.I buy only the typical Indian items(which you cannot find in American stores) from the Indian grocery.These items are also cheaper in the American stores.

Even though I find wheat flour in the American stores,I prefer the chakki fresh type we get in the Indian stores and therefore end up buying it.But thankfully ,I had the problem of bugs only in one bag so far!!

Cheers

Hi Rohini,


I have been in Decatur, GA for the past 2 years. I usually buy all the items from Kroger, but for Indian items have to go to the Indian shop. Even I have faced similar problems after buying items from Indian shop. As Ami as mentioned, even I found bugs in atta and some other items like idly chutney powder and sambar powder. I also feel that they should mention the expiry date on the products.

i had the same problem

i bought ashokafrozen paratha. when i opened tyhe same it was really bad. i dont know if they will really do such athing at sny american departmental store

I am from India. My son is studying in Texas A & M. May be he is also facing the same problem. Is there anyway i can send him or to anyone who is interested freshly made powders? I am basically from Madras. Hence my podi making is good. What is the cheapest way to send food articles to US

Originally Posted by rohini

Hi Ladies,

Most of you here I presume are in different parts of the US for years together. I just wanted to take your opinions on something that I noticed with the Indian grocery stores.

I shop in a couple of Indian grocery stores in the place where we live - Philadelphia. I have noticed that when they bill the items, the bills don't have a proper description and it just reads as item 1, item 2, etc. Also items like spice powders, ready to eat mix, oil, atta and other flours do not have expiry dates in them.

I'm not sure whether it is the same with Indian grocery stores in many places in the US. But I noticed the same issue with some Indian stores in Dallas too when we had been there.

I'm sure most of the Indian items that we frequently shop in Indian stores are imported from India. Isn't it essential to have expiry dates listed? What if we buy some expired stuff and kids, expecting moms or elderly people eat it? Also, why don't they have proper descriptions on the bill? Isn't it convenient to quickly check the rate and the items we purchase?

I don't find this problem with any of the American departmental stores here. I'm not telling this to let down Indian by anyway. I love my country and I am happy to be with our people and long to get our Indian things here.

But just curious why this happens?!

I understand your concern for your son. About sending spices through post, that can be tricky as US customs are very suspicious about food items. Besides, there is nothing like a cheaper way to send them to US. Sea mail is cheaper and will take few months for the packet to arrive in the US. Your best bet would be to see if there is any willing relative or friend who might be traveling to US and will oblige your request to take food items and post it to your son locally.
Besides, please do not worry.... easily said than done:) Your son is young and he may even enjoy trying out other food possibilities where he lives. Although the Indian shop groceries are much to be frowned upon, there are many basic items that one can buy and use without worry. Even if there is no mother's home made food, believe me, he will not be pining for Indian food.
Hope this helps. All the best to you and your son.

L, Kamla

Hi Ladies,

I understand what you all are going thru. I have the same problem too. I see bugs in the rice and dals that I buy in the indian store. I sift the wheat flour before I start using it. It is a good idea to wash all the rices and dals two to three times. I have a sister in law who is a doctor, who told me that if there are bugs in rice and dals and other things, then it means these products probably do not have a lot of pesticides and chemicals in them. which I think is good. We dont want chemicals and pesticides in our food.

I try to buy things that I dont use often in smaller quantities so they dont sit in the pantry for ever.

Regarding the receipts in indian stores, we cannot do much about that. The indian stores here do not invest money on good billing software for their products and inventory. I live in CT and we have one indian store which has comaparatively much better billing system than many other indian stores. Ofcourse it does not compare to the amercian grocery stores. Hope this helps.

jothi.