bacon from its shelves after being alerted by The Royal Gazette .

Acting on a tip, three packages of the bacon were purchased from the Church Street, Hamilton MarketPlace on Monday.

The product Dutch Rindless Back Bacon was clearly marked with a "use by'' date of August 17, 1999 and when opened it appeared to have become discoloured.

It was also clearly marked "keep frozen'' which according to sources is a contradiction when used in conjunction with a "use by'' date.

There was a marked difference in colour with similarly packaged bacon from the same UK supplier with a use by date of April 4, 2000.

Director of Health and Sanitation for the MarketPlace, Jim Cornes said Monday night: "From a health and safety view it isn't a problem, it is edible.

"But from a quality perspective, yes it should not be on the shelf and we have taken steps to remove it.'' Mr. Cornes, a former health department inspector, was hired last year to manage such issues for the MarketPlace, the Island's largest supermarket chain.

"The MarketPlace is working on this kind of thing,'' he continued. "Our warehouse people now have instructions to check goods for quality, temperature, and its dates. We don't want to accept inferior quality or damaged goods. As soon as I find out I take them off the shelves. It is not that this meat is bad but that there is some deterioration.'' "Because it has a use by date which is not used for frozen food, I suspect what has happened is the UK company has frozen fresh bacon and not changed the label,'' he said. "I'll be getting to the bottom of it.'' Consumer legislation passed late last year still leaves the Consumer Affairs Bureau and the Health Department toothless against the sale of old meat.

In addition bacon, which spokespeople for both departments said is the source of many complaints from the public, is usually sold in major countries as fresh and unfrozen.

But in Bermuda, it is sold as frozen meat which in such countries as the UK and US is not affected by "use by'' dates.

Frozen bacon can last up to a year if properly packaged.

But that is not good enough for the tipster who alerted the Gazette .

"This is not good enough,'' the man said.

"I feel sometimes people are being held to ransom because there are not many choices out there.

"I certainly would not eat it. But yes, I would go back to the MarketPlace.

"It's a vicious circle.

"You can go to some of the smaller stores and they have fresher product but at three times the price.'' He added: "We don't have much of a choice.'' According to Karen Marshall, chief executive officer of the Consumer Affairs Bureau, Government was getting its "ducks in a row'' to draw up regulations that would reflect the numerous countries Bermuda buys products from.

Suspect: Packages of old frozen bacon purchaeds from the MarketPlace.

HEALTH HTH