Dive Brief:
- Raley’s has agreed to pay nearly $400,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging the grocer was selling expired over-the-counter drugs, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
- The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release that it and four other state district attorneys’ offices sued the California-based regional grocer earlier this month after an unfair business practice investigation found Raley’s offered the expired drugs.
- The settlement comes less than two weeks after the lawsuit against the grocer was filed on April 11 in Yolo County Superior Court.
Dive Insight:
The settlement comes about six years after Raley’s paid $350,000 to settle similar claims in 2019.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said the recent investigation’s findings that Raley’s was selling expired items violated the terms of a 2019 injunction related to that case.
The investigation identified categories of OTC drugs that were not accounted for in Raley’s compliance program, which was established after the 2019 case, according to the press release.
Dandruff shampoo, SPF lip balm and sunscreen were the primary focus of the investigation, and under the terms of the settlement, the company did not admit guilt, Raley’s spokesperson Chelsea Carbahal told The Sacramento Bee. Carbahal also told the paper that the grocer has policies, training and software in place to ensure that goods are removed from shelves before expiration dates.
Raley’s did not respond by publication time to a request for comment from Grocery Dive.
According to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, Raley’s has agreed to pay $278,000 in civil penalties and $111,000 in cost recovery as well as provide $5,000 to Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services to purchase products for distribution to families in need within Sacramento, California. Raley’s will also pay $31,000 to the Consumer Protection Trust Fund and five county food banks because it would be challenging to identify shoppers who bought expired goods, The Sacramento Bee reported.
“Enforcing retailers’ compliance with product expiration laws is one more way our office is helping to protect the public’s health and safety,” Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said in a statement.
The Raley’s settlement marks the latest grocer to pay fines after California officials brought claims that they were offering expired products. Last year, The Save Mart Companies paid $1.6 million to settle a consumer protection case brought by six California district attorneys alleging the grocer violated state health and safety laws by having certain expired products for sale. In 2023, Albertsons paid $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by three California district attorneys claiming the grocer had expired over-the-counter drug products for sale for four years.
