Amazon Keeps Delivering Moldy, Spoiled Food to Customers

For sale on Amazon: moldy beef jerky, "rancid smelling" coffee creamers, and Hostess brownies more than a year past their expiration date.

Nasty Stuff

If you've recently ordered food via Amazon, you'd be wise to check the expiration date before chowing down.

A new CNBC investigation has revealed that third parties regularly use the massive online marketplace to sell expired, spoiled, or moldy food — and that Amazon seemingly isn't doing much to stop them.

Pervasive Problem

As part of its investigation, CNBC tasked a data analytics firm specializing in Amazon Marketplace with taking a look at the site's 100 best-selling food products. The firm found that at least 40 percent of the products had more than five customer complaints about the delivered food being expired.

CNBC's investigation also detailed specific customer complaints, including moldy beef jerky, "rancid smelling" coffee creamers, and Hostess brownies more than a year past their expiration date. The buyer of the brownies, Andrea Wilson, told CNBC she wasn't able to get a refund from Amazon until she took her complaint to social media and tweeted at the company.

Faulty Process

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that the company has "robust processes in place to ensure customers receive products with sufficient shelf life."

Those processes include a requirement that third-party sellers provide Amazon with the expiration dates of any products intended for consumption and not sell anything within 90 days of the date — but clearly, a whole lot of products are slipping through the cracks.

READ MORE: Amazon is shipping expired food, from baby formula to old beef jerky, scaring consumers and putting big brands at risk [CNBC]

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