Food Stamp Fraud?

What is the name of your state? Florida

I work for a large grocery store chain who steams the seafood it sells for free. I recently discovered that it is the company's unwritten policy that people can buy food raw on food stamps and then take it back to the seafood depatment to have it cooked. This seems very illegal to me, but not to my management (several levels of management actually). Not only does this policy seek to decieve the welfare program, people are also not paying tax on food cooked by the store; that's illegal, right? I want to do something about this, but I really don't know who would handle something like this. I am actually leaning taking it to the media, but I would prefer the state to handle it, if it is a crime. Any advice?

hbunl said:

What is the name of your state? Florida

I work for a large grocery store chain who steams the seafood it sells for free. I recently discovered that it is the company's unwritten policy that people can buy food raw on food stamps and then take it back to the seafood depatment to have it cooked. This seems very illegal to me, but not to my management (several levels of management actually). Not only does this policy seek to decieve the welfare program, people are also not paying tax on food cooked by the store; that's illegal, right? I want to do something about this, but I really don't know who would handle something like this. I am actually leaning taking it to the media, but I would prefer the state to handle it, if it is a crime. Any advice?

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My response:

You said, "seafood it sells for free."

How do you "sell" something "for free"?

The store has every right to cook the food and then pay the tax itself on cooked food. Do you have any information to the contrary?

IAAL

I deem this writer crabby and shellfish.

Here is an idea for you:

The next time you suspect that a person has purchased some seafood with food stamps and comes to you for their free steaming, you should make a really loud siren sound and have one of your friends scream "Welfare fraud on aisle 2!" repeatedly until it gets the attention of your boss. I doubt it will do anything more than get you both fired, but it would sure be funny to watch.

Now think about it for a minute. When they buy the food it meets the guidelines. Then they take advantage of an offer from the store to steam it. I would bet that the store made that policy so they could make more money and sell more seafood. The store doesn't care how the food is purchased, money is money to them. I worked in a grocery store while I was in high-school. The policy at that time stated that they cannot purchase food that has already been cooked, with food stamps. They are not doing that though, they are purchasing food that has not been cooked. As far as I know, there is no law that dictates who must do the cooking for people who buy food with food stamps.

I AM ALWAYS LIABLE said:

My response:

You said, "seafood it sells for free."

How do you "sell" something "for free"?

The store has every right to cook the food and then pay the tax itself on cooked food. Do you have any information to the contrary?

IAAL

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Ok bad English. When the store sells seafood, if offers the service of free steaming. And In regards to taxation, the store never pays taxes on the food it sells on foodstamps and then steams. Yet if someone were to have food steamed, then pay, they pay tax. That's not right, right?

Are you saying that they only offer the service to people who pay with food stamps? Is it free to people who pay with cash, or not?

hbunl said:

Ok bad English. When the store sells seafood, if offers the service of free steaming. And In regards to taxation, the store never pays taxes on the food it sells on foodstamps and then steams. Yet if someone were to have food steamed, then pay, they pay tax. That's not right, right?

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What is your purpose? There is no charge to steam the seafood, they can buy the raw food with food stamps and get it steamed for free like everyone else, if there is a tax, they can pay for it or the store can absorb it, it is not fraud! So, following your logic to it's end, your are promoting that people who use food stamps should not be able to use them in that store or starve to death because you are a bigot, if they use a free straming service offered by the store?

Actually by law, prepared foods might also include raw foods such as pre washed salads or sushi, are you saying they should be charged with food stamp fraud for selling prewashed salad? There are recent changes to these laws allowing purchase of some types of prepared foods because many homeless people who get food stamps have no place to prepare a meal. Funny you are so picky, why didn't you address if the food was imported as much seafood is imported? Who are you trying to hurt the store or the people on foodstamps

The store has come up with a way to make more money. It is a promotional gimmick. The people are not going to starve if they cannot buy pre-cooked seafood. They can buy fruits and many vegetables that do not need to be cooked and they will not starve.

I do not consider it the right of those on food stamps to have the best food available. I do, however, consider it the right of the store to make money. If they are operating within the laws, who cares if they want to steam seafood for folks on food stamps?

rmet4nzkx said:

if there is a tax, they can pay for it or the store can absorb it, it is not fraud!

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How can there be a tax on a free service? That makes no sense at all.

There is nothing illegal happening here. As a matter of fact, there some other taxable "food" items in FL that a person receiving foods stamps can purchase without paying the tax on the item. This has NOTHING to do with your local Publix or Winn Dixie losing any money. When's the news conference? I don't want to miss this one.

OhBullship said:

How can there be a tax on a free service? That makes no sense at all.

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OP was stating that there was tax charged on non foodstamp purchases of the steamed food because it was a "prepared food" and the foodstamp purchases were paid for at the register as Raw Food and then taken back for steaming both to avoid the tax and to buy "Prepared" foods not allowed for purchace with foodstamps, even though the steaming was "free".

Some stores offer, Free marinaid of seafood, it is weighed first then the marinaid of choice is added. It is not clear what OP wants out of all of this, I was just trying to point out how petty it all was. BTW, seafod is an excellent source of protein, vitamins and absorbable minerals such as iron and zinc and can be low cost. Expecitng a person to live on raw fruits and veggies limits the amount of protein available in the diet, that is why some of the former limitations are being adjusted to accommodate persons without kitchen access.

If the service is free, and the food is purchased before the service, they are not buying prepared food. Neither is a person who pays cash, unless the policy applies only to those who pay with food stamps, which is why I asked if it was offered only to those paying with food stamps.

Sure fish is good and healthy food. A person can also get the protein from a can of tuna, or a can a beans though. There is no need to get it from prepared foods.

For the most part, I'm not talking about people coming into the store and wanting a piece of salmon steamed, people come in and want $100 worth of crab legs or lobster on food stamps and then for someone to prepare them for them. I have no problem with the welfare system, I just have a problem with people abusing it at major comanies with shady, unwritten policies that are meant to decieve the sytem. Why am I cooking someone's food if I've already paid for it with my tax money; that's not what the law intented! I have no problem if someone wants to spend all their food stamps on caviar and lobster, but expecting people to prepare the food and not even have to pay the taxes everyone else pays for the same exact product is wrong. And I realize some taxable items are available for purchase on food stamps, but these are items that are appoved by the government, cooked food is not one of them and should not be allowed. I have an idea, I'll open up a "store" that sells raw meals, sell them to people on food stamps, and then cook them for free! That would be legal, right?

No matter how much you want to, you cannot control what other people eat. No matter how they spend it, you aren't going to get anything back.

If you do not like cooking for the foodstamp folks, you are free to find a new job. You are also free to go apply for foodstamps for yourself. That way you can afford to have your seafood cooked for you too.

The store is a business, and they are out to make money. They have found that this service gets people to buy the seafood at their store. That is a legitimate business practice, and I'm sure it has boosted sales for them.