Albertsons in California told to remove expired meds from shelves

Albertsons has removed expired drugs from store shelves in California after a judge said the grocer could not sell them, reports the Sacramento Bee. Albertsons has also agreed to pay a $3.5 million settlement

Retailers are not allowed to sell expired drugs in California even though it is not illegal to offer expired food in the state. A San Joaquin County judge told Albertsons and affiliated stores Safeway, Vons, and Pavilions of California to pull any over-the-counter medication past their sell-by date. The civil case accused Albertsons of selling expired drugs for four years.

“The public should be able to trust that what they buy at any California store will not be expired before they bring it home,” Yolo District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in a statement.

Albertsons does not admit to any wrongdoing but did cooperate with the court order. Employees have also been re-trained and all stores have been checked. It has not been determined if any shoppers have been affected by expired medications sold at Albertsons.