Hoarding dried goods may be common practice in many Greek households but when supermarkets get in on the act, there is cause for alarm, as Piraeus food safety inspectors found out when they came across pasta products that were 10 years past their expiry dates.

Piraeus Prefecture said yesterday that its employees had found pasta which had expired in 1995 and 1996 still being sold in a local My Market store. The inspectors also found products being stored in the shop’s toilets.

The same violation was found at an Atlantik supermarket. Checks also revealed insects and mouse droppings in an area where food was being stored. Some 13 kilos of spoiled cheese and chicken were also seized by officials.

Some five kilos of cheese were also confiscated at a Veropoulos supermarket, where dairy and meat products were being stored next to each other, the prefecture said.