Buying In Bulk Question

[Sweetfudge]

Does anyone do it? The local health food store here has a section of bins where you can scoop your own stuff (flours, nuts, beans, fruits, etc). I wanted to know what everyone has to say about this. I asked and they said that they can't guarantee the foods' not contaminated but the only way I could is to order in bulk from their supplier, or buy more expensive brands of things. I don't think I've had any issues from this, but I am not positive. Just curious what all y'all do, and if you don't get stuff from the open bins, do you order bulk from suppliers?

Anyway, thx for reading

[LKelly8]

I wouldn't buy anything from a bin - flour, nuts, beans, candies - way too suspicious.

If your health food store can sell some/all of it to you before they put it into the bins - find out what day their shipment comes in - that seems ok. Who are the suppliers? Are they reliable?

[Jennas-auntie]

  LKelly8 said:

I wouldn't buy anything from a bin - flour, nuts, beans, candies - way too suspicious.

If your health food store can sell some/all of it to you before they put it into the bins - find out what day their shipment comes in - that seems ok. Who are the suppliers? Are they reliable?

The health food store I shop at has all their gluten free flours in a totally separate area of the store with their own attached scoops so it would be almost impossible for contamination except perhaps, I suppose, someone could stick the bean flour scoop into the rice flour or tapioca flour and so on. Having the scoops attached is helpful though. Would they be up for doing this? Maybe they could have a gluten free section of the store? They also use this area to post flyers with recent local celiac support news and information. With ours, you still have to go weigh yours in the back room with all the other bins back there, but by that time its all bagged up and they keep things pretty clean.

[marciab]

I wouldn't buy my flour this way, but I get all my beans this way. I like the bins they have where you simply push up on a panel and your stuff comes out the bottom. No scoops.

This is the kind my health store uses for nuts, millet, seeds, etc. Marcia

[gabby]

I just had a very bad experience with this exact same issue. I was buying my raw almonds in bulk from a health food store where they sell their bulk products in separate bins. I started finding flavored (and glutened) nuts mixed in with my raw organic nuts. I went back to the store to complain and actually watched an employee take ALL the almonds scattered around the bins and then DUMP them into the raw organic almonds bin! I spoke to the customer service people and they just shrugged their shoulders and gave me my money back.

This just happend recently and has turned me off using bulk products.

Another thing I noticed at this same store was that they often switched the products around. So one week the organic raw almonds would be in Bin A, then next week, they would be in Bin B (which held hickory smoked nuts).

It is a confusing issue. Hope this helps