Fowl is fair! Key Food's chicken relabeling is completely kosher

A Brooklyn Heights Key Food that has been repeatedly accused of changing the "sell-by" date on meat is off the hook this week after the state revealed that the relabeling practice is completely legal.

The Atlantic Avenue market was under state scrutiny last month after customer Marie Viljoen took pictures of a spoiled D'Artagnan chicken, which appeared to have a new "sell by" date placed over the 11-day-old original. The store has been smacked with some serious food safety violations over the past few months, but the state now says that there's no problem.

" 'Sell by' dates are nothing but a tool for store managers," said Jessica Ziehm, spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture and Markets that inspected the Key Food after Viljoen's claims. "It's not illegal to re-date or re-package, though they're still required to sell safe, wholesome products. We went there and found no problems."