He added, “On reaching home, I found that the second product was also past its expiry date. I went to the store and showed them the product and sought an explanation but they refused to budge. They even denied to hand over the complaint book.”

In its reply, the retail outlet admitted that the products had been purchased from their outlet but pleaded that they had not expired and were fit for consumption.

The forum observed: “The contention of the complainant to have suffered food poisoning due to the consumption of the said chocolate muffins has not been proved. There is no medical evidence produced by them to prove that food poisoning occurred due to the consumption of the products alone. We are, therefore, not inclined to accept this part of the contention.”

The forum, however, held: “The allegations regarding the sale of expired food products stands proved as the wrapper of the dry fruit buns states that it was “best before February 1, 2009 and the food item was sold on February 2, 2009.”