A woman who fell ill after buying bacon 11 days out of date from Costco has slammed the wholesaler's response.

The shopper, who did not want to be named, bought three packets of streaky bacon on January 2 from the store in Hartspring Lane, Bushey, but when she got home realised two packs were four days out of date and one was 11.

Although she didn't eat anything she bought, the woman did taste the bacon as it was being cooked and offered to customers on the shop floor beforehand.

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She said: “I didn’t know why I was ill but now I know I might have eaten something four to eleven days out of date there’s a pretty good chance that’s what it was.”

The woman claimed staff were taking bacon from the same fridge and cooking it for customers to try, so she didn't think to look at the date before buying it.

She initially picked up one packet before sending her son-in-law back to get two more, which makes them think the odds are numerous customers were being offered out-of-date bacon.

“They were feeding people out of the same fridge and there wasn’t that much in the fridge for us to pick up three from,” she added.

Watford Observer: The out of date baconThe out of date bacon (Image: UGC)

“I’m shocked that a store like that could be cooking food out of date for people to try.”

When the issue was raised with the store, she said the customer service response was “shocking”.

“They said ‘thanks for letting us know’, I said ‘is that it?’.

“I thought they would send an email out to warn customers and to tell people if they had an upset stomach that it’s not down to something else, but nothing”

Watford Observer: The receiptThe receipt (Image: UGC)

The store offered a refund and £10 extra, but the shopper said the money isn't the point.

“I’m not happy," she added. "I didn’t want to be sick, but the main thing is I want to bring it to other customers’ attention.

“I ate some and I had an upset stomach but other customers could have had more.”

The Watford Observer contacted Costco for a response but it declined to comment.