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Amazon's expired milk powder has problems with counterfeit and expired goods

1. More and more consumers find that Amazon marketplace, like other platforms, also has major problems such as counterfeit and unsafe products, and even is full of some expired food.

2. In Amazon's $900 billion business empire, more than 2.5 million enterprises use the website for distribution, including a large number of food sellers. This group currently accounts for 58% of the total goods sold on the platform.

3. The company said it had taken corrective measures to ensure that the products on the shelves met its standards. These are isolated events, and there is no need to take action against the seller or remove any products from the shelves'.

On October 22, according to foreign media reports, there are more and more fake and unsafe goods on Amazon platform, and the same problem also exists in groceries. This e-commerce giant will even sell expired food.

Amazon's huge marketplace platform, composed of millions of third-party sellers, has become the preferred website for many consumers, especially after the company acquired whole foods more than two years ago. However, more and more consumers find that Amazon marketplace, like other platforms, also has major problems such as counterfeit and unsafe products, and even is full of some expired food.

Amazon's customers pointed out that from infant formula, coffee creamer to beef jerky and oatmeal energy bar, there are problems such as deterioration and expiration date. Moreover, interviews with brands, consumers, third-party sellers and industry consultants show that there are loopholes in Amazon's technology and logistics system, so that expired goods can spread with little traceability.

In this regard, consumer security advocates worry that this problem will only get worse with the continuous growth of the Amazon marketplace market.

see the scene which is dreadful to one 's mind

In Amazon's $900 billion business empire, more than 2.5 million enterprises use the website for distribution, including a large number of food sellers. This group currently accounts for 58% of the total goods sold on the platform. Third party merchants usually sell products from all over the world here, and most of these products are purchased from official distributors, flea markets and customs clearance channels.

After querying the food category of the platform, some media found that customers were dissatisfied with expired chili sauce, beef jerky, oatmeal energy bar, infant formula and baby food, as well as goldfish biscuits and 360 packaging that had arrived six months from the factory with a 'stench'.

A data analysis company specializing in the Amazon market recently analyzed 100 best-selling foods on the platform for the media. They found that 'at least 40% of sellers have more than 5 customer complaints about expired products'.

It should be said that clearance sale and warehouse clearing are one of the reasons for the existence of expired food on Amazon platform. For example, in 2017, when Starbucks announced the closure of teavana physical tea store, many sellers purchased a large number of discounted teavana goods from the store and resold them on Amazon. Today, you can still find teavana products on Amazon, such as rock sugar and fruit tea, although they were discontinued two years ago.

A customer pointed out in a review of teavana products that this tea has a 'terrible chemical smell', which may come from deteriorated fruit. ' Sarah & middot, deputy director of regulatory affairs of the center for Science in the public interest (CSPI); Sarah sorscher said that this teavana product is also attached with a 'non resale label', which is worrying.

'(this shows) at least in the supply chain of this product, some people think that the product is not suitable for consumption.' Said soscher.

An Amazon seller has been selling sugar, spices and other foods on the website for the past nine years. He told the media that 'Amazon has not replied to a large number of customer inquiries about teavana's outdated products'.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Nestle, which has the right to sell Starbucks coffee and tea, including teavana, declined to comment.

attempt nothing and accomplish nothing

An Amazon spokesman told the media that all products sold on the platform website, including those marked as' non resale ', must comply with the law and Amazon's policies. If the third-party seller sells goods for consumption, it needs to provide Amazon with an expiration date and ensure that the remaining shelf life of the goods is greater than 90 days.

However, food safety experts pointed out that there are still questions about the effectiveness of Amazon's policy.

"There is no indication of how well this policy has been implemented. Some sellers may decide to sell expired products and let Amazon catch some of them. " Thomas & middot, food policy director of the American Consumer Federation; Said Thomas Gremillion.

Angie & middot living in St. Louis; Angie Atkinson received a box of land O & lsquo; purchased on Amazon in February; Lake cream, but when I opened it, I found that each box had solidified. She then looked at the use dates and was' shocked 'when she found that they had expired.

Atkinson said in an interview: 'I never thought you could even sell expired things. If that's what I bought for the first time, I'll never look at it again. "

When the media submitted some expired food lists to Amazon, the company said that it had taken corrective measures to ensure that the products on the shelves met its standards. These are isolated events, and there is no need to take action against the seller or remove any products from the shelves'.

Amazon spokesman pointed out that the company uses a combination of artificial and artificial intelligence to monitor more than 22 million customer feedback received every week, which involves product quality and safety issues. If the seller violates its policy, Amazon may take the product off the shelves or suspend its seller account.

The spokesman said: 'we strive to ensure that customers buy high-quality products from our stores. We have a strong process to ensure that customers receive products with sufficient shelf life. If customers have concerns about the items they buy, we encourage them to contact our customer service directly and cooperate with us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action. "

Recently, regulators and legislators are closely watching Amazon's every move as part of a broader review of large technology companies. After the Wall Street Journal found that there were thousands of unsafe or banned products on the website, three Democratic senators recently told Amazon CEO Jeff & middot; Jeff Bezos sent an open letter on consumer safety.

In response to this request, Brian middot, Amazon's vice president for public policy; Brian huseman said: 'bad actors are constantly trying to escape our automated tools and review procedures.'

Amazon said that if employees receive feedback indicating that a product is unsafe, they can also trigger an investigation. In the food category, Amazon uses a database called 'heartbeat' to monitor customer comments through comments, phone calls, e-mails and sellers' feedback on security issues.

However, several consultants who advise sellers said that even with all these tools, Amazon needs to develop a new strategy to more effectively regulate the market, improve the detection of suspicious products and strictly implement its policies when third-party sellers violate the rules.

Sarah & middot, deputy director of CSPI; Soscher said that Amazon's technology is obviously backward.

"The expiration of products means that it is more difficult for the platform to find other more hidden product problems. If you can't even do some basic things, such as checking the shelf life of goods, how many things will you face the risk of getting out of control?" Soscher finally said. (source: Tencent securities