At our chain, out-of-date canned and boxed goods, along with out-of-date breads and some deli products that are frozen on the date they expire, are donated to a food bank that comes by with a refrigerated truck each week to pick them up.
Breads and cakes that are baked at the store, (as opposed to packaged breads brought in by vendors), are not necessarily frozen, but are picked up by a smaller food bank, daily.
Packages that are damaged are sent to a landfill to avoid risking contamination and poisoning the recipients. (We had been sending all damaged perishables to a recycling center, but the outfit handling the process was locked in a dispute with the EPA, (over what I have never heard), so the only stuff being recycled, now, is produce. If the EPA issue is resolved, management would prefer sending damaged perishables to recycling.)
Oh, I can think of LOTS of reasons other than pride. Just off the top of my head, how about someone who is a delusional paranoid who won’t take the food because they’re convinced it was poisoned by M.I.6, or how about someone who was (perhaps wrongly) accused of a crime and is afraid to show their face in public for fear of being arrested, or how about someone who was banned from the food bank because last week they got into a fight with one of the other homeless people, or how about a homeless woman who is afraid to go near the shelter because last week she was assaulted in the alley, or how about an immigrant whose identification was stolen and someone told them that if they ask for help they’ll get deported.
That’s because bread doesn’t have to be “cooked” before you feed it to the animals, if you’re a commercial farmer.
Some farmers pick up food waste from restaurants, too. The restaurants are usually happy to do this, because otherwise they would have to pay someone to do that. This is also how some people get oil for biodiesel, too.
My sister worked in a place where the average dinner started at $200 USD, the underage bussboy claimed all the unconsumed wine/beer and a woman named Blanca was famous for eating even half eaten food left on plates, even with lipstick stains.
Our store does that also. If you use it or freeze it right away it is still good. Some of the meat looks better than others, though.
There used to be a dying shopping center a block from my house which got torn down for houses. There was a small dying grocery there. We went in one day - their canned goods were not just a little expired, but six months expired. I’m in a reasonably upscale neighborhood, so no one bought them - or much of anything, for that matter.
In the case of the pig farmer with the used dairy products, I believe he had to mix it in with dry food. And there was also an issue where too much dairy in the pigs’ diet would give them digestive problems.
They go to the local dollar saver store. We had pork chops tonight with Bush’s Baked Beans. In our regular store the price of the can is about two bucks. We bought the same can, abet with a minor dent in it and about a month past the stamped date, for fifty cents. As long as the can’s integrity is not compromised there is no difference. We regularly buy non-perishable foodstuffs that way.
Reminds me of back many years ago when my brother was dating a girl whose family ran a bakery. At the end of each day, the employees (most of whom were family members) could take home anything that hadn’t sold to make way for tomorrow’s fresh goods.
I remember my brother bringing home boxes of baked goods - amazing stuff. We all encouraged him to marry the girl but no dice.
Sometimes out-of-date items get sent to Europe. Something stamped with an expiration date of “030915,” for instance, could be taken off the shelf in the US in March and sold in Europe until September.
My Dad worked in a canning factory and told us that canned good really have no expy date. If the can is not rusty or swollen (even a little) the contents are OK. Mind you, they may not taste as good, but they are safe.
My suggestion to those who find out of date canned goods in the pantry is to store them in a cool dark place and use for earthquake rations.
Just a few years ago, Trader Joes use to donate their 'day old" baked goods to a local church. This was very nice of them.
I would do this, but if a can is dented, how can one be sure the integrity is not compromised? It isn’t always easy to tell if the ends have that “sucked in” look. And if the integrity is compromised (which I assume means there is an air leak), then it won’t get swollen even if the food inside rots.
I’ve read that botulism, being anaerobic, only occurs in cans without leaks, and can only get into a can during the canning process if the food is not cooked to total sterility there. AND further that botulism contamination doesn’t affect the taste, so you can’t tell that way. But does botulism cause the can to get swollen? OTOH, if there is an air leak, the insides could have any other kind of awful contamination, and it might be very obvious, but it isn’t botulism. Is any of this correct?
Never taste the product to determine if it is safe. Do not taste or eat foods from containers that are leaking, have bulges or are swollen, look damaged or cracked, or seem abnormal in appearance…he container is leaking, bulging or swollen, looks damaged or cracked or seems abnormal in appearance
The container spurts liquid or foam when opened
It’s not 100% safe, but it’s pretty close.
My earlier statement about taking restaurant food home was more along the lines of uneaten pie slices, untouched buffet containers, etc. No way would I eat or drink anything off someone’s plate! :rolleyes:
