Community Chat

[occasionalrain]

I think it's wonderful that stores allow customers to buy expired food at a greatly reduced cost. The customer can choose to buy it or not and those who do will keep it out of landfill. Most food is good past it's date so why waste it? Milk is perfectly good for a week past it's date and so is yogurt.

[Lucky Charm]

I pointed out to a meat manager some expired lablel meat and he told me to take it to the front CS counter and they would give me a dollar. I did and they did.

I went back and filled up my cart half way up with more and took it to the front and told them I didn't want the money, but I didn't want someone else picking it up.

She handed me a $20 bill and threw the meat away.

[occasionalrain]

Often times it's the lazy stockers who don't rotate the stock. It's easier to just put the new items in front than to remove the older stock, shelf the new, and return the older.

[Shorty2U]

I used to work for a major grocery store chain in food management. We did NOT sell outdated food. In fact every department had to be sure to check nothing was outdated! There are some stores here that sell day old bread or baked goods but they are not outdated just a day old and reduced. I would never buy outdated anything.

[Cakers1]

On 5/14/2014 Sister Golden Hair said:

. I have seen lunchmeat over a month expired.

Ewwww!

[KYToby]

Why do people assume these "expiration dates" are any indication of when food goes bad?

These are sell by dates, and for the most part, they are nothing more than a marketing gimmick. Admittedly, fresh, perishable foods need to be watched carefully as those things spoil relatively quickly; however, most processed foods are good for months or years after the supposed "expiration."

As far as the FDA having a law allowing it, the fact is there is no such law as there is no law requiring it. There are no government or industry standards. People who believe that once a date arrives, the food magically goes bad are doing nothing but fooling themselves.

[Financialgrl]

There is no excuse for physically moldy food. Where I see that most is in fruits at the stores - raspberries are notorious for going bad pretty fast and its not unusual to see mold on those or strawberries.

The FoodNetwork a few years back had a show addressing waste in America. Bobby Flay and Michael Symon were a team against Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli. Point of show was to go to grocery stores, farms, fish and meat markets and take away food that stores/restaurants could no longer sell or use and would be tossed that night. They prepared a dinner for 100 guests (many culinary people) using that food.

All food had to go thru an inspector to make sure it was okay to use so no one would get sick. The point of the show was that the amount of food we waste and throw away in this country is such that no one should ever go to bed hungry. Just the number of eggs that are the wrong size and wouldn't fit in the egg carton because of that and slightly bruised tomatoes that are routinely tossed. I have and will buy food that's near its expiration date if it's discounted enough but I also make sure I take it home and use it that night.

[Moonlady]

On 5/14/2014 kaybee said:

My mother started receiving Meals on Wheels a few months ago and even they have delivered moldy bread and cooked chicken that was questionable.

That's despicable.

As far as the expired food sold at grocery stores, I know that Wegmans is always pushing their own brands (dairy, usually) with far-ahead expiration dates while the name brands expire soon, usually in about a week. I get milk and cottage cheese that's way in the back.

[maryebrown_1]

On 5/14/2014 Sister Golden Hair said:

I have talked to more than one manager through the years, no one seems to care.

I also find in the meat dept where it will give a 2 week window. The manager said that the computer printed it wrong. I told him that if I had used that hamburger with that type of window, I would be really sick.

That is so sad about the "Meals on Wheels". That should never happen.

The Martins/Giant near me has expired juices, cold cuts, and yogurt on the shelves, all the time. I rarely buy my meats there - the ones that are expiring on the day I'm shopping aren't reduced, red meats are brown/purple, and I would never buy fresh fish from them (I can smell the "ammonia" from 50 feet away!). OTOH, Food Lion marks down its meats a day before they expire, they still look fresh, and I'll freeze them.

[terrier3]

On 5/15/2014 Moonlady said:

On 5/14/2014 kaybee said:

My mother started receiving Meals on Wheels a few months ago and even they have delivered moldy bread and cooked chicken that was questionable.

That's despicable.

As far as the expired food sold at grocery stores, I know that Wegmans is always pushing their own brands (dairy, usually) with far-ahead expiration dates while the name brands expire soon, usually in about a week. I get milk and cottage cheese that's way in the back.

I always reach o the back of the case too. My son is the same way!

It is illegal in my city to sell food with expired dates, or to ALTER the dates. They also can't break up packages and sell individual eggs or slices of bread (again - it would have no label).

Small delis were selling rotten food...now they can be fined or closed down.