Unknown item in bagging area - Which? reveals Britain’s strangest supermarket substitutions
- One in five online shoppers received a substitution in their most recent order, including high-profile "baffling" swaps like toilet cleaner for lemon juice or moisturiser for beef burgers.
- Sainsbury’s had the highest rate of substitutions (28%), while Tesco shoppers were the most likely to face out-of-stock items (30%) or out-of-date products (12%).
- Online grocery sales have reached a post-pandemic high of 13% of the total market, but supermarkets are struggling to maintain accuracy and quality control amidst this rapid expansion.
Turnips instead of chicken breasts, toilet cleaner instead of lemon juice and moisturiser instead of burgers, shoppers reveal the most bizarre online grocery substitutions from the last year in a new Which? survey.
According to a recent survey of over 3,500 supermarket shoppers, the consumer champion found one in five (20%) had been subject to a substitution in their most recent online grocery order, with some stating they had received some very unexpected replacements over the last year.
Sainsbury’s shoppers were the most likely to get a substitute item in their online shopping delivery with nearly three in 10 (28%) receiving one. A shopper reported that sanitary products had been replaced with condoms. In another case, a potato arrived in place of a chicken.
A quarter (25%) of those who shopped online at Asda were faced with substitutions, although these may be considered less strange, including raisins for radishes, cheese instead of butter and banana-flavoured milk instead of bananas.
Around a quarter (24%) of Tesco customers reported receiving substitute items in their online delivery. Some of the most baffling swaps included chicken crisps instead of chicken wings, turnips instead of chicken breasts and Cif lemon toilet cleaner instead of Jif lemon juice for use as a pancake topping.
One in five (20%) Amazon Fresh customers received substitutions, although reports were less strange and included the wrong types of milk or a different cut of meat.
At Morrisons, one in five (19%) online customers reported getting a substitution in their delivery. One shopper said their order for chicken was replaced with fish.
Meanwhile, at Waitrose & Partners, around one in five (19%) shoppers said they’d had a substitute item, however none of those reported in Which?'s survey was particularly bizarre.
One in seven shoppers at Iceland (16%) found they had substitute items in their online deliveries including the very strange swap of a moisturiser instead of beef burgers.
Online orders now account for an estimated 13 per cent of all UK grocery sales. While in-store shopping remains dominant, online ordering is growing fast, forcing traditional supermarkets to invest heavily in delivery infrastructure, fulfilment technology and picking operations.
More people have been doing their grocery shopping online, with sales made through the internet up 9.7 per cent year on year. More than 18 million orders were placed over the four weeks to the beginning of March, which meant online shopping made up 13 per cent of total grocery sales, the highest level since July 2021, when it was legally mandatory to self-isolate if you tested positive for COVID-19
Overall, this year's survey showed swaps affected one in five shoppers (20%). Last year, the consumer champion found that substitutions affected nearly one in three (29%) online shoppers overall and up to almost half (47%) of those who shopped online at Asda.
Besides substitutions, online shoppers reported other frustrations with online shopping this year.
The Which? survey revealed that Tesco shoppers were the most likely to have faced out-of-stock items in their most recent online order (30%). Morrisons and Sainsbury’s customers reported the highest rate of damaged goods (both 13%), while one in 10 items (12%) from Tesco and Morrisons arrived out of date. Which? also found that accuracy varies wildly by brand; one in six (16%) Iceland customers reported missing items, and Waitrose was the most likely to deliver entirely unordered products (not substitutes), with one in seven customers (14%) affected on their most recent online shop.
Shoppers can refuse replacements or request refunds, and most supermarkets allow customers to opt out of substitutions entirely. Yet many customers leave the option enabled to avoid gaps in the weekly shop - accepting that, occasionally, the system will decide that what dinner really needed was something else entirely.
Reena Sewraz, Which? Retail Editor, said:
"While some product substitutions in your online food delivery are better than nothing, our research has shown that they can also be well wide of the mark – ranging from strange to completely inappropriate.
"If you receive a replacement that you don't want, you can reject it on arrival, or you can sometimes opt out of receiving substitutions altogether."
ENDS
Notes to editors:
The results are based on an online survey of 3,552 members of the UK public who told Which? about 1,417 online shopping experiences in the previous 12 months. Fieldwork was conducted online in October -November 2025.
Marketshare data from Worldpanel by Numerator https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/news/one-in-five-uk-households-place-online-grocery-orders/713107.article
Rights of reply:
An Asda spokesperson said: “We always let our customers know when their order contains a substitution and they can opt out of receiving them altogether. Our colleagues will always do their best to make sure customers receive the closest suitable alternative if an item is unavailable. We never charge more for a substitute even if the replacement item is of higher value and if it costs less, we will refund the difference. If customers have any questions about their order, they can also contact our Customer Services team who will be happy to help.”
Morrisons did not provide a comment for publication but Which? understands just 0.3% of its poultry products were substituted for fish.
Tesco was unable to provide a comment in the absence of customer order information being provided.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said, "More customers are choosing to shop with us online thanks to the value and availability we’re delivering. If an item isn’t available, we’ll work to offer an alternative and where this isn't suitable, customers can decline any substitute they don’t want.
"We really appreciate it when customers flag these rare cases so we can follow up with additional coaching for our colleagues to reduce instances of this happening."
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