12 Grocery Store Meat Departments Shoppers Complain About Most

It doesn't take much for someone to become completely turned off by a particular meat department. Because of the nature of the product, anything that seems slightly off is going to exacerbate the repulsion — be it an odor, a color, a dicey inventory, or a problematic worker. This isn't the canned good aisle after all. Expectations are different in the meat section.

All this to say that supermarket chains really have to be on their game when it comes to the deli and butchery components of its stores. Because if it's not, customers are more than willing to put the  shop on blast. And, that's fair too: Subpar meat offerings can be not only unpleasant, but a serious health risk. There's no quicker way to disintegrate a fan base then by almost killing them.

Which of the big grocery chains have the most-complained about meat departments? It was unfortunately tough to choose, as it seems the bigger the grocer, the more difficult it is to keep tabs on what's going on in every location. And, meat is something that has to be monitored regularly. So, we settled for 12 grocery store meat departments shoppers complain about most.

Stop & Shop is an East Coast supermarket chain that services five states: Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. But, according to some unhappy customers, that's five states worth of meat departments too many. The store seems to be rife with issues stemming from its meat section, noticed by customers and authorities alike.

Stop & Shop had to pay a $75,000 fine in 2026, for mislabeling meat, leading to spoiled product left for any customer to grab. But, this seems to track for shoppers who have had enough of the grocer's shenanigans. People have reported seeing mice roaming out and about, and one customer on Reddit noted that the place was so dark it "felt like a dungeon." What are you hiding, Stop & Shop?

Lack of light will do nothing for odor, unfortunately. Especially when another shopper on Reddit says the meat department — along with the fish department — "smells like fresh death." On the plus side, at least it doesn't smell like un-fresh death?

Target is a prime example of a grocer that's so huge there's bound to be issues with at least some of its stores. There's only like, oh, 2,000 of them in the U.S. alone. Still, meat departments need good oversight, strong management, and committed workers. Otherwise, bad things happen, such as a recall.

In 2018, Target had to de-inventory a bunch of frozen meat and poultry products for potential temperature abuse (which probably has nothing to do with sucker-punching a thermometer). That's already unsettling. And, then there's what customers have to say: "Make sure you guys check your meats," warned one Redditor, displaying a package of Good & Gather sirloin steak that had the sickly discoloration of a graphic no-smoking PSA.

Another Redditor jumped to the staff's defense, although it revealed that the workers don't seem to have enough time to check all the dates. That's not good. Whatever the cause, and whoever is to blame, the end result is a meat section that is likely to be avoided.

Unfortunately, there are a multitude of ways that a meat department can fail. Sure, there's bad product, which can put people's health in danger. There's skimping on deli orders, making folks feel cheated out of their money. There are even alarming issues that prompt government recalls. Congratulations, ShopRite. You've achieved all three levels of meat department crappiness.

The Northeast supermarket chain had a recall for ground meat in 2026due to metal fragments found in the product. It has left customers with entire loads of purchased meat that spoiled. And, a shopper has claimed that they've gotten only a quarter-pound of deli meat after ShopRite's own scales showed half-a-pound. Granted, that last allegation is only one side of the story, but it certainly doesn't help ShopRite's image.

The rest of the country outside the Northeast might be pleased to know that there isn't a ShopRite anywhere near them, after hearing all this. But, don't worry (or do), since no part of the country is spared from bad meat departments, as you shall see.

Publix is practically a Florida institution, along the lines of Universal Studios, the Miami Hurricanes, and spring break beach fights. Many people swear by the supermarket chain in the Sunshine State. Others, however, not so much. Especially when it comes to Publix's meat game, where the store's been accused of neglect, disgruntlement, and even subterfuge.

Regarding the last point, customers feel like they've been duped by the store with an "old butcher's trick" of putting the good parts on top of the bad in packaged stew meat. (Epilogue to that: The customer ultimately declared the meat "unusable.") Other shoppers on Facebook have had much grosser, more repetitive experiences (nothing better than repetitive grossness), continually getting chicken from a Publix that is "slimy and smells."

Other commenters backed up this claim, with one saying they had the same, consistent experience at another Publix, except with ground beef. Workers in the meat department have felt the heat from customers as well, taking to Reddit to vent-slash-explain-slash-but-actually-just-vent about patrons putting their two cents in. Hey, you mess with people's beef, you've got beef.

Safeway is one of the oldest grocery-store chains in the country, though not everybody appreciates it. The ubiquitous West Coast supermarket has had its share of detractors, despite being a staple for shoppers, especially in and around California. With the closing of a bunch of stores in recent years, it may seem like Safeway is in the midst of a down period. This is unfortunately showing itself in the meat department.

TikToker and all-around grocery watchdog @meatdad has been on Safeway's case for some time, pointing out rightly that a discount meat section shouldn't destroy your digestive system just because it's a discount meat section. Or, he's simply posed a deceptively profound query: Why is Safeway's meat so terrible?

Commenters on Facebook seem to be on board with the assessment, with one calling Safeway's beef a "ripoff" even at a discounted rate. If Safeway wants to stick around another 110 years, it should probably get its act together when it comes to meat. There are folks out there ready and willing to call the grocery store out.

Walmart is not too big to fail. At least, it's not too big to fail its customers every now and again. (Or the environment, for that matter, with its major waste problem.) This has especially been true in regards to its meat performance, which has sorely been lacking in the eyes of its loyal patrons — perhaps getting less loyal by the day. You see, many of them are taking big issue with some of the meat missteps of the world's biggest retailer.

"Beware," begins more than one ominous post about Walmart's meat. (Can we call it "Walmeat" for this entry? No? Okay, cool.) Stinking chicken was the source of one of these social media gripes (always fun), while another was due to the fact that the store was selling outdated meats. Even people that worked for Walmart refused to buy meat there, which is especially telling.

This kind of stuff has caused Walmart to come under increased scrutiny from social media retail commentators, putting the chain on blast for underwhelming, low-quality, and overpriced meat products. Too big to fail? Not in this regard.

When counting how many times you've bought rotten meat from a store, "umpteen" is never the number you want. But, that's just courtesy of one of the many disgruntled shoppers that have been wronged by Lidl's meat. It seems the German giant may get a lot of things right — due to its recent success in America of late — but, its meat department is not in a good place.

There's been one overriding complaint about the Lidl meat section, and it's one you never want to hear: Smell. Different customers have reported rotten odors at different Lidls, which is an unsettling sign. One shopper even claims that every single Lidl they've been to has a funk, in response to someone posting that the Lidl chicken they brought home stinks like cheese.

Red flags aplenty for Lidl here. A discount store does not have the leeway to sell poor, bad meat. It doesn't matter if the cost is down, these are people's well-beings you're messing with here. Maybe Lidl should just stick to bizarro German versions of American foods. As long as it's not meat-based.

The Cincinnati-based supermarket-department store known as Kroger's has carved out quite a significant place on the retailer landscape. It has over 1,200 location across 16 states, mostly east of the Mississippi. With this many outposts, there's always a chance that one or two or 30 aren't doing something right. And, there's always a chance that can happen in the meat department.

Firstly, it seems Kroger's has lied about the meat it sells, at least according to a lawsuit that claims the labels it uses on its meat and chicken products — such as "well-raised" and "antibiotic-free" — are basically falsehoods. This is on top of ex-workers telling people to avoid the deli meat because of lack of slicer sanitation; which is itself on top of customers reporting that Kroger's meat is consistently odorous and "slimy." That is an adjective that should be nowhere near one's meat.

When the poultry and beef is in this kind of shape, it seems there aren't best and worst times to shop at a Kroger's — only worst times. At least when it comes to shopping for meat at some of the locations. Heed the warnings though, and keep an eye out if you do peruse the meat department.

Wegmans is a beloved Upstate New York supermarket chain that has expanded its reach in recent years. When the store finally opened up in New York City for the first time — in Brooklyn in 2019 — transplants were thrilled, newbies were intrigued, and a fresh face was added to the Big Apple grocery scene. Well, it seems the shop has made some missteps in its thrust for glory, and this has been very palpable in the meat section, at least according to some unhappy shoppers.

There's been a litany of complaints: Bony ground beef, "dry and gross" chicken breasts, steaks lacking flavor, "slimy" pork chops (there's that dreaded adjective again). On top of that, the meat seems to be overpriced. One customer even alleged that Wegmans was adding water to its ground beef to increase the weight and therefore the price. This hasn't been confirmed, but the fact that anyone would think that's what's happening with the meat is not a good sign on its own. There may be 12 ways to save money at Wegmans, but one is for certain, at least for some people: Don't spend money on the meat.

H-E-B is mainly a one-state grocery chain — Texas. But, its a beast of a chain in a beast of a state, with almost 350 locations. And, for a grocer that's in a region which takes its meat extremely seriously, you would think it would do a better job in this department. But, that does not seem to be the case.

A central issue people have been experiencing with H-E-B's groceries is that the meat seems to be going bad way before it should, sometimes within a day. And, it seems there isn't much accountability when it comes to staff. A worker, who was in charge of gathering curbside delivery orders, was told by their manager that a customer complained about a bad package of meat that was in the order. The worker asked the manager why a bad piece of meat was on the shelf in the first place (which is a very fair question). 

Whether you're on the side of the manager or the worker, it doesn't really matter. The consumer on the end is getting the raw deal out of this. Maybe the next Texan who has to stock their meat fridge might be better off finding their own cow rather than shopping at H-E-B.

Food Lion has well over 1,000 locations, all crammed into the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Taking up that much real estate in one part of the country means that many of the local shoppers are probably going there by default, just because there are so many outposts around. With that much presence, you might say a company can become complacent. Whether that's the case with Food Lion or not, when a meat department is not performing as it should, it's generally not from lack of complacency.

What does that look like on the customer end for Food Lion? Awful smells that people can barely tolerate. Or how about brown raw hamburger meat that expires way too quickly. And, let's not forget our old favorite: Meat that a dog doesn't even want to eat.

It's a difficult thing once a meat department goes to hell. It's the type of ditch a store can dig itself in with customers that it may never come out of. Once people don't trust the meat, getting that trust back is harder than figuring out an impossibly complex Italian dish. Bad meat odors don't leave people's memories.

BJ's has done an admirable job trying to keep up with the big boys of wholesale, members-only grocery shopping: Costco and Sam's Club. While those latter two are the dominant forces in the industry, BJ's has grabbed itself a respectable seven-percent market share (in a very lucrative market). This is thanks to its almost 250 locations across more than 20 states and territories.

But, there's something to be less thankful for in regards to BJ's — at least according to dismayed shoppers: The meat. One, long Reddit post in particular pointed out that bad meat from BJ's was hidden in the middle of good meat — if something like that can even be described as hidden. Worker hygiene in the meat department seems to be an issue for some people too. It would for anyone, really.

One of the least enviable customer complaints was rotten meat that stank up their entire grocery haul. That goes beyond having just some bad meat. Now you have bad groceries? That's like an 800% hit rate for BJ's terrible meat. It breaks the 100-percentile metric. Come on, people, we have to do better than this.