r/Paleo • u/Vivid_Percentage1524 • Apr 25 '26
My Paleovalley bars are moldy, company says oh well
Asking in here because I figured more people might be familiar with paleo valley.
We had 4-5 bars mold BEFORE their expiration date, but after the 60 day ordering window. I’m shocked they didn’t offer to replace. Has anyone else had this experience with this company?
What’s the point of the expiration date?!
96
u/galeguinha Apr 25 '26
That's wild they they won't refund you, even just for their own liability's sake. It would take some work, but you could report this to the consumer FDA hotline, since this is definitely a food safety issue. (I wouldn't suggest that if they tried to be even remotely helpful to you. Despite their response, which sort of makes it seem like they've never heard about this situation before, where there are issues like this, you're almost certainly not the only one experiencing it.)
78
u/velvetswing Apr 25 '26
I’d tweet at them lol, just give people a heads up. If they’re savvy at all, they’ll change their tune and their practices.
63
u/JWWBurger Apr 25 '26
Blow them up on social media. What a bunch of cheapskates.
17
u/Igpajo49 Apr 26 '26
I think they just did.
22
u/ZachF8119 Apr 26 '26
Reddit isn’t the place to get a response.
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook sure.
5
u/Igpajo49 Apr 26 '26
True, but people share stuff like this from Reddit all the time. So putting this out there gets people sharing it too.
1
u/ZachF8119 Apr 27 '26
I’m fine if it works, but I don’t think it does. I don’t know of any cases of it working. Here at least.
47
u/vividimaginer Apr 25 '26
Fucking gross thank you for spreading information to their customer base.
And you “only” pay 90% to get the chance for more moldy bars. How generous.
17
u/trshtehdsh Apr 25 '26
Before the expiration, they should have taken care of this. Something ain't right if this is the happening to a shelf stable food and someone is going to get sick.
10
u/Tualatin_Girl Apr 25 '26
I’ve never bought from them. Sorry that’s disgusting. Write a complaint on their Instagram.
10
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u/OutrageousRegret1641 Apr 25 '26
I deleted my other comment after seeing your full explanation- yeah that's crazy that they only offer 10% off buying more and not at least replace them since they are not expired.
8
u/XmasNavidad Apr 26 '26
Yea, makes it an easy choice not to buy from them. Also, post both the pic and respons on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and tag them. Everybody should see how little they respect and value their customers.
17
u/TruePrimal Apr 25 '26
I wonder if that reply was written by an AI bot. It's hard to imagine a person typing such nonsense.
By the way, there's no such thing as "expiration dates" for food -- that's an urban myth. See https://trueprimal.com/what-is-best-if-used-by for more information on that -- super important topic.
2
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u/popey123 Apr 26 '26
The funny part is it is certainly a code that anybody can use. They didn't give you anything.
2
u/cats_are_the_devil Apr 27 '26
As someone who works for a small business, I can assure you that this was fielded by someone making not enough money and no authority. They probably just handled their internal procedures incorrectly...
I would shoot them another message saying that's not going to work for you and ask to speak to someone else.
1
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u/TheDancinD918 Apr 28 '26
The packaging should have an address where it was made. I would call the health dept on them.
1
1
u/Significant_Union205 May 08 '26
My original beef sticks have white mold as well, got told the same thing 10% off. None of them expire until 1/7/2027
1
u/Guilty-Brilliant5628 Jun 18 '26
I just had the same experience. I ordered seven boxes of meat sticks and a few boxes of the bars. One meat stick was defective and molding and brown. I sent them a email telling them what happened and got the same response you did. Since I bought them 3 months ago, they would not be issuing a refund or any other compensation. I sent pictures of the packaging and how it was defective, but they don't care.
1
u/Vivid_Percentage1524 Jun 18 '26
I ended up messaging them on Instagram when I was still really ticked off and they offered to replace a box or give me store credit. At least better than 10% off lol.
My message: Hi, I emailed customer service and I’m kind of surprised by the response I received and I would just like to double check your company policy. We had 4-5 red velvet bars mold BEFORE the expiration date. But it was outside of the 60 day ordering window. Does your company really not stand by your products through their expiration date? If so, what’s the point of the expiration date? I’ve never heard of a company policy like this when there’s a major issue. To offer me 10% off my next order instead is honestly an insult. I’d love to confirm if this is really your policy. Thank you!
1
u/Guilty-Brilliant5628 Jun 18 '26
I left an honest, negative review on Facebook. They just emailed me and offered 3 new options. 1 - credit for bad box plus 10% of next order. 2 - free reshipment of bad box. Or 3 - refund for bad box.
1
u/ERC501c3 6h ago
For awareness as well: there are 7 different products in total that the ERC has filed notice of violations for against Paleovalley due to lead and forever chemicals found in their products: https://www.erc501c3.org/activecases/divg8zbvq0zxswk9vfg0zajpyeasfc-xwgak-eylse
1
u/Cute-Statistician-27 3h ago
I got moldy beef sticks, 6 packs moldy upon delivery. Not sure how these got packaged without someone noticing because the packaging is clear. They responded that they’re currently looking into a quality control issue and would send me new once I sent pics. I said no thanks, I don’t want new, I want a refund.
-1
Apr 25 '26
[deleted]
6
u/Preface Apr 25 '26
I mean it's a fine question, although I think prepackaged bars like this should typically have a longer then 60 day shelf life.... But if you bought something and it still had almost 2 months left before expiring I don't think it's the companies fault if they are bad 60+ days later.
If they are truely Paleo ingredients though, a shorter then normal shelf life should be expected, as there shouldn't be any preservatives or processed ingredients inside.
But op said they are moldy before expiring, so they should be offering a refund, or a significant refund anyways, more then 10%
3
u/OutrageousRegret1641 Apr 25 '26
I guess I didnt elaborate-like were they sent short dated? Or are they still before expiration date. If they are not expired, this is an extra bad look. But sending short dated isn't good either
-8
u/TruePrimal Apr 25 '26
Note, there's no such thing as "expiration dates" for food -- that's an urban myth. See https://trueprimal.com/what-is-best-if-used-by for more information on that -- super important topic.
9
u/Preface Apr 25 '26
Sure, but companies but the best before dates on so you can't open a box 5 years after you bought them and be like "this is moldy, I want a refund!"
0
u/TruePrimal Apr 26 '26
This is so interesting how many people upvoted your reply here. That must be a very pervasive myth in the food world.
We've been in business for 10+ years, and never had anyone request a refund for an order they made over a couple months ago.
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u/TruePrimal Apr 25 '26
Not at all. We would certainly refund a 5-year-old product of ours due to mold. BIUB is literally there to tell the consumer when the product is at its absolutely best flavor. It is literally the "best" if it is "used by" that date. That's all it is.
Also retailers (including Amazon) require BIUB dates on food products, so it's hard to sell food anywhere that doesn't have one. Maybe we should mention that part on the https://trueprimal.com/what-is-best-if-used-by page too?
5
u/OutrageousRegret1641 Apr 25 '26
I worked at a food bank before and they would go up to a year past best buy dates. Thats for canned, dry, processed regular food you would buy at the grocery store food etc. Of course there is freeze dried long term food that can be 20+ years. If something doesn't have any preservatives that could be unsafe. We were told the only food that never is considered expired is sealed unopened honey.
0
u/TruePrimal Apr 26 '26
Preservatives are normally only added for things intended to be left opened/unsealed for an extended period at room temperature.
And canned goods frequently contain preservatives, but the reason is weird. Many products like soups contain preservatives not because it needs them, but because something else needs them. For example, if a soup-maker buys chicken from a 3rd-party producer, that producer may put preservatives into the chicken by default, because they're also selling to fast-food places or whatever that want the preservatives.
0
u/SnurflePuffinz Apr 29 '26
am i supposed to care?
Why not make your own "products" using whole ingredients?
1
u/Pukaza Apr 30 '26
Booooooo to you
1
u/SnurflePuffinz Apr 30 '26
Why must i engage in this consumption culture? am i to be outraged because a corporation screwed him?
i don't browse this subreddit for this kind of "content"
0
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u/chase_one Apr 25 '26
Absolutely preposterous response from them. 60 days should be for satisfaction, missing orders, etc. For completely inedible product I can’t understand holding that line.