Jar of Uncle Ben’s sauce which went off in 1998 donated to food bank | UK News

Food bank volunteers were gobsmacked after being handed a jar of Uncle Ben’s sauce that was more than 20 years past its best-before date.

The 25-year-old ‘Gratins Dauphinoise Cheese & Onion Sauce For Potatoes’ was included in a box given to Sunderland and County Durham Food Bank, and is older than some of their employees.

It was found on Tuesday by a volunteer who was checking items at the food bank’s warehouse in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

The worker became suspicious when they looked at the faded label and noticed the contents of the sauce were a ‘little grey’.

After taking a closer look at the date printed on the lid, they realised the best-before date was June 9, 1998 – meaning it expired 9,360 days ago.

Food bank manager Jonathan Conlon, 47, said it was the oldest item volunteers had ever received.

He said: ‘We sometimes get things that are a couple of years out of date and occasionally at harvest festival time, for example, we get things that people have cleared out from the back of their cupboards.

‘It’s not that unusual to get the odd donation that is out of date, maybe a year or two, but this is the record.

‘It’s crazy really, it’s older than some of the people who work here.’

Mr Conlon said the jar couldn’t have come from donations at a supermarket, because all of those donations are in date – so he reckons it’s from a personal donation.

He said: ‘We certainly won’t be opening it, but to be fair – although it looks a little bit grey, the sauce looks intact and not too bad considering it’s age.’

Mr Conlon posted a picture of the out-of-date sauce on X to remind people to check the dates of the food before donating.

He added: ‘Sometimes we get half-eaten packets of biscuits or cakes where, maybe, somebody has tried it themselves and thought better of it.

‘What we always say is it’s wonderful to receive donations but if people can donate things that they would like to receive themselves, that’s probably the best rule of thumb.’

The 25-year-old jar of Uncle Ben’s sauce is now going on display at the food bank.

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