# Scratch & dent clearance item shelves **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181 "2018-03-07T15:24:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/21 "2018-03-08T01:46:23Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > A local, large, commercial bakery has outlet stores for products close to expiration at deep discounts. > We call them the recycled bread stores. 🙂 There’s an Entenmann’s bakery outlet store in the town where my parents live. My mother would go there from time to time and buy stuff like bread, English muffins, pound cake and pastries. If you bought boxed goods (like the pastries or the pound cake) they’d stack the boxes and put them in a machine that would tie them together with twine. I’d try to figure out how the machine made the knot at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/22 "2018-03-08T02:24:10Z")
I don’t know. We cook chicken for our pooch who developed an extreme wheat intolerance. Took her off the kibble to solve her itching and puking issues and it helps tremendously. Went into Grocery Warehouse and picked up a tray of double-discounted chicken thighs, figuring they were at the end of their sell-by date, but still useful. Helpful hint: Flawed furniture, clothing, all kinds of stuff. Bargains rule. Discount chicken? Just don’t go there. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/23 "2018-03-08T03:07:13Z")
I buy big pkgs of chicken liver for pet treats. I cook them and freeze in small pkgs. Boy my pets love liver cooking day. I have to air out the house when I do it, yuks me right out! I don’t think I would go for discounted liver. Ewww. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/24 "2018-03-08T03:20:43Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I buy big pkgs of chicken liver for pet treats. I cook them and freeze in small pkgs. Boy my pets love liver cooking day. I have to air out the house when I do it, yuks me right out! > I don’t think I would go for discounted liver. Ewww. LOL! My family cooked liver for their dogs regularly. Never considered it a people food. I remember the first (only?) time I was a guest and the host was serving liver. My brain could not stop yelling “this is dog food you are serving me dog food” ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/25 "2018-03-08T12:50:19Z")
There is a rather large and very busy green market ( fresh fruits and vegetables) near my home. They have a .29 cent a pound table in a back corner, which is were they put all the stuff they would otherwise discard. If it doesn’t sell there in a day or so then they throw it away. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/26 "2018-03-08T13:02:46Z")
While [the FDA](https://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/BuyStoreServeSafeFood/ucm197835.htm) only warns about cans that are “badly” dented, or dented along the top or side seams, Consumer Reports thinks you’re risking [botulism poisoning](https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2010/05/q-a-is-it-ok-to-buy-dented-food-cans-at-the-supermarket/index.htm) by buying any dented cans. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/27 "2018-03-08T14:41:05Z")
When I was a poor 19-year-old Safeway checker, hand-written prices on obviously damaged items were _never_ questioned by checkers, so it was not unheard of for some of the employees to superficially damage an item, write “25¢” on it with a Sharpie and go to checkout… ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/28 "2018-03-08T21:57:43Z")
I once bought a few loose bottles of Drewry’s Beer for a quarter apiece. They were overpriced. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@MonkeyCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyCat)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/29 "2018-03-09T22:22:28Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > The grocery store I usually frequent saw suckers like me coming from a mile a way and figured out a way to dispose of their unwanted items and still manage to make money - or at least cut their losses. I’m talking about those shelves filled with slightly damaged items or items they no longer carry, or items they want to put on fire sale for whatever reason. > > Ohhh a can of mosquito repellent on sale for 99 cents during the month of February. Hey summer’s only a few months away and it’s got a sell by date of November 2017 - that’s still probably effective… And look, there’s a can of dented French cut green beans for only 40 cents. The can doesn’t look like it’s bulging and the seal isn’t compromised so they’re probably safe to eat… What’s this, a box of candy canes for a dime? Hard candy never goes bad, right? That same box of candy canes sold for two bucks 90 days ago… > > Any other gullible types like me that insist on spending money on items a store would otherwise throw away? My response isn’t about me personally, but you bring to mind my Swedish guy. When I lived in Sweden, I was married to this happy, bouncy Swedish man. And whenever there was a prize, no matter how shitty, attached to the purchase of something he’d positively spasm with enthusiasm. “What!? A free beach towel if I mail in this card after buying three boxes of macaroni?!” Shit like that. It was so hard to bear breaking his spirit. So I didn’t. _shrug_ But he never really needed nor wanted the beach towel. He just liked that it was free. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/30 "2018-03-10T04:16:39Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Some of that food ending up in the dumpster is from consumers who put a package in their cart then change their minds and, instead of handing it off to an employee in a fairly timely manner, stick it in some random place where it can warm up to the point it can’t be re-shelved. All day long the staff where I work are finding cold food in odd places (seriously? You tossed a pound of corned beef behind the top shelf bottles of the shampoo section?). Once it warms up we have to toss it. > > So, people, if you change your mind hand the food to an employee - if nothing else, hand it to the cashier on your way through the check out. The store will be much happier and less food will wind up in the trash. Or, in some cases, parents who simply abandon the cart and go home when their kid starts to fuss. Really, it’s not too much trouble to go to the checkout and not waste your trip, and potentially a lot of food? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/31 "2018-03-10T04:30:40Z")
No, no take the screaming kid home, push the cart up front and tell someone you have to leave, but do go home. OTOH, I was checking out at a busy grocery one day and the person ahead of me couldn’t get her card to work. So she left saying she would come back. The checker put the bags in a buggy, cleared her register and started checking out my items. The next day I am back in the store for something. I went to the same register, different checker. I looked and close to her line was parked the same buggy with the same items all bagged up. They had never been put up by employees after 24 hrs. Everything perishable was perished, for certain. Don’t blame all grocery loss just on customers. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/32 "2018-03-10T06:02:36Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > But it seems to me the 2 day old meat in a meat cooler could have been donated to a homeless or women’s shelter. Criminal. Not allowed by regulations, in many places. Several supermarkets in my area have rotiseries; after 3pm they sticker down anything left on the hot shelf. Why call it waste when you can call it dinner? I don’t carve my menus on stone before heading to the supermarket or the greengrocer; my shopping list says “fruit”. Bananas which are at the edible point without needing to spend a week in my balcony, because they already spent a week at the grocer’s? Sign me up. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/33 "2018-03-10T06:23:50Z")
I say in the U.S., the regulation should change. We waste so much food here. No one should be hungry in a free society. IMO ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/34 "2018-03-10T06:42:58Z")
My dad loved shopping at the used food store. We recently discovered [the modern equivalent](http://www.ollies.us/home.html) but the nearest store is way out in Manassas. Can’t get out there much. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/35 "2018-03-10T07:02:20Z")
Found some sort of “Black Garlic” marinade in the discount bin tonight. Sounds great. We’ll see… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/36 "2018-03-10T07:03:15Z")
I see they have put an Ollies in Hot Springs, I will be going there. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/37 "2018-03-10T17:43:00Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > No one should be hungry in a free society. IMO That’s less about waste and more a statement on economic policy. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/38 "2018-03-10T17:53:28Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > A local, large, commercial bakery has outlet stores for products close to expiration at deep discounts. > We call them the recycled bread stores. 🙂 We call them the used bread stores. 🙂 If we’re having a cookout or a family gathering we go buy the buns or bread for sandwiches there. Who cares if the expiration date is tomorrow if I’m using it today? I also check out the “Manager’s Special” section in the meat department at the grocery store. $10 pork roast marked down to $5 because the sell by date is tomorrow? It’s in my crock pot today. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/39 "2018-03-10T17:59:45Z")
I love the deals at the grocery store. I have a freezer for a reason, and the meat will be fine when I use it. A specially dented can of beans? Well I kinda wanna make chili anyway. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181/40 "2018-03-10T19:06:53Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Or, in some cases, parents who simply abandon the cart and go home when their kid starts to fuss. Really, it’s not too much trouble to go to the checkout and not waste your trip, and potentially a lot of food? Once I did the grocery shopping for the family, went out to my new used car, and it would not start. I went back into the store and asked for help. The manager allowed my to put the entire cart in their freezer while I waited for a ride. Nothing in the cart went bad. The car, OTOH, was a lemon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scratch-dent-clearance-item-shelves/810181.md?page=3)