A 50-year-old shopper told of his shock after he was asked for ID at a Tesco supermarket - for a bag of NUTS and two BANANAS.

Tony Morris went to his local store in Carlton, near Nottingham, to pick up some shopping for his tea on Tuesday night.

But he thought he was going bananas when he came to pay for his bag of mixed nuts and fruit at the self-service checkout only to be asked to verify his age.

And he was stunned when a member of staff and a security guard came across and told him it was in case he was going to ferment the products to make alcohol.

Gobsmacked: Teetotaller Tony could have just bought booze if he'd wanted it (
Image:
SWNS)

Mr Morris, a housing association scheme manager, said today: “I thought I was going nuts, I could not believe what I was hearing.

“After doing some shopping for my tea I placed my goods on the shelf next to the self-service unit.

“All was going well, until I put my bag of mixed nuts and bananas through the scanner, to find red lights flashing and the blue screen saying it needed age verification.

“Next thing I know a member of the shop staff and a security guard are walking towards me.

“I stood at the machine wondering what I had done wrong to attract so much attention and staring.

“I said I wasn’t even buying alcohol and they wanted proof of age at first and told me that sometimes it goes off for alcohol-related products.

“They said are you planning to ferment it to make alcohol? I responded by saying ‘I’m a teetotaller and I’m 50-years-old'.

“Staff laughed it off eventually and luckily I didn’t need to get my driving licence but it’s embarrassing when you are highlighted for doing nothing wrong.

“It’s bizarre they would require ID for random products like that, maybe it was the combination of the two products that made it flash up. I just don’t know.

“Maybe I’ll need to take my passport and driving licence next time in order to purchase my breakfast.”

Age restricted: Tesco says policy is because natural fermentation can take place (
Image:
SWNS)

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We don’t age restrict the sale of nuts - our store team have rechecked all the nuts in the store to ensure this is the case.

“Giving customers great service is our number one priority and we’re sorry if the incident caused our customer any inconvenience.”

Earlier this month shopper Kate Lancaster, 37, was asked to prove she was over 18 when buying a snack pack of water melon and grapes from a Tesco Metro in Plymouth.

When she queried this she was told a new policy meant “fruit will be age verified in case natural fermentation takes place”.

poll loading

Which would be cheaper?

500+ VOTES SO FAR