The food parcel received by a Stratford single mum of three children.
A Stratford grandmother has raised concerns about foodbank parcels after her daughter received out-of-date and repackaged items with little or no details about what they were.
Joan, who didn't want her full name published, says she's grateful there's a foodbank available to help her daughter when it's needed.
"She's a single mum with a baby as well as two other young children. We do what we can to help but it's good to know foodbank is there when her grocery money gets spent on other bills."
When she saw her daughter unpacking a parcel from the Stratford Community Foodbank last week however, Joan's relief turned to concern.
"I actually stopped her putting some of the stuff in the cupboards. A lot of it was past the best before date, not by a few days but months and in a couple of cases almost a year."
While she's aware a best before date doesn't mean food is dangerous to eat, Joan says it does put people off eating it.
"Especially nearly a year out. I wouldn't eat that and nor would many people. So my daughter now has to choose between going hungry or eating expired food."
Even more concerning to Joan, was the food with no sell-by date as it had been repackaged.
"There was an old yoghurt pot with peanut butter in it, with a piece of foil over the top, and "peanut butter" written on it in pen. There is no way of knowing how old it was."
Other repackaged foods included cereal, sugar and rice.
"I was stunned to see rice in a washed out catfood container. No matter how clean the container is, that seems wrong. Other stuff wasn't labelled, one container held something we couldn't identify."
Joan says she also has concerns over the handling of the food.
"If stuff is being repackaged, are the volunteers following food safety guidelines, wearing gloves and hair nets? There was a plastic bag containing some mince for example. It had no best before date marked on it, having clearly been repackaged. With meat, there does need to be a clear date on it in my opinion, as eating meat which is off can make you sick."
Rachael Otter, licensing inspector and environmental control officer at Stratford District Council says as the foodbank is giving away food rather than selling it, it is exempt from registration requirements.
"If someone did come to us with a concern, then we would pass it on to MPI (Ministry of Primary Industries) to investigate as foodbank must ensure food is safe and suitable to eat."
Repackaged items must be dated and labelled clearly when being donated, especially meat which must be frozen when it leaves donor storage, says Rachael.
Joan says she is aware the foodbank is reliant on donations, but worries that food is being wasted needlessly.
"I told my daughter not to eat the meat as I don't want her or the children getting sick.
"In addition, quite a few items in her parcel were things she does not eat. Maybe the volunteers should check when they are giving a parcel out so they don't hand out food that won't be eaten. Tins of salmon and chickpeas are never going to be used by my daughter, but someone else might have wanted them."
The Stratford Press took Joan's concerns to Stratford Community chairperson, Dianne Roberts, who says the volunteers at the Stratford Community Foodbank "do the very best we can do, with very limited resources".
Dianne says she accepts there may well be some food past the best before date going into food parcels.
"When we have items donated, we simply don't have the time to check the date on it all. We do take a closer look at items which we know have a short shelf life, but we can't check every tin or box."
"Repackaging food is something we have to do to make sure we can give something to all who need it." While staff do wear gloves when handling the food, they don't wear hairnets she says.
"And it is barely handled, it is being tipped from one container to another, or a scoop or spoon is used."
Meat is bought in bulk and then repackaged by the volunteers.
"We spend about $600 a month on food, and it would be too expensive to buy small packs of meat. It is cheaper to buy it in large packs and then portion it out."
It is normally still dated and clearly labelled she said.
"Clearly that wasn't the case in this particular instance and we apologise for that."
The foodbank spends money only on food and rent for the premises they operate from, says Dianne.
"Everyone who works here does so free of charge. All our volunteers are very busy and they do the absolute best they can do."
When it comes to food people don't want, Dianne says the volunteers do try to cater for individual tastes.
"We would rather someone told us than took it home and threw it out."
The problem is that the volunteers have to do a lot with a little, and as well as handing out a food parcel they try and point people in the right direction for further help.
"We can give out up to three parcels in a year to an individual, but after their second visit we try and get them some budgeting advice too. So we are trying to organise that at the same time as we are handing them food and taking their details."
If people want to help, they should come along and volunteer some time, or donate food or money to help them help more people in need.
Donations for the Stratford Community Foodbank, could be dropped at the Stratford Community House on Tuesdays between 10am and noon. Or at the Stratford Press office, 178 Broadway on any weekday.