I went to Sprouts today and an item on my grocery list was parmesan cheese for a baked chicken dinner. I came across this brand called BelGioioso on sale for $2.99. Sounds great because there's parmesan cheese as well as 3 other cheeses so I could make pizza too, but when I checked the expiration "best by" date, it had already passed, 7 days ago!
I decided to put the cheese in my cart anyway (since these were the last 2), and when I got to the cashier I asked her if I could get the items free since it's already expired? She said yes, of course, and apologized for the inconvenience.
I am not too concerned about the best by expiration, because it's still sealed and it's a hard cheese type, should be fine. I do not see any mold either. Overall, doesn't hurt to ask especially since they'll toss the food out right in the trash.
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This happened to me, but I didn't see the expiration date until AFTER I brought it home, it was one of the soft (and expensive) cheeses, and it was TERRIBLE. I didn't think cheese could sour so badly, but boy did it.
I hope you took it back! If the cheese wasnt sealed the way it was , I wouldnt dare too but I took a chance & it was fine!
I have no idea how come Im finding more expired items frequently now too or the expiration date is a lot closer to the day!
It is terrible how many expired items are on the shelves.
Earlier this month my hubby got terribly sick from a bottle of an expired coffee drink he purchased at a local dollar type store. These things usually have such high turnover in stores so he didn't look at the date (lesson learned sadly). It expired in December last year (this is July!!!) OMG!
When he felt better, he took the bottle back to the store and they gave him a refund. He also contacted the the corporate office. They offered a gift card...which was nice, but still. It was very scary how sick he was and that G-d it wasn't worse.
Stores need a good lesson in stock rotation. What gives?
Generally food is still ok after the expiration date. Several years ago I had stored some packets of albacore tuna in one of those popcorn cans and forgot about it. So when I finally came across it, it had expired 8 years ago. I was just sick about it and didn't want to throw it away, so I called my good friend who managed a cannery and asked him about it. He told me to open one of them, and smell it. If it smells good, then take a tiny piece and taste it. if it tastes good and looks good, then it is ok.
I found expired cheese, and they just took it and said they couldnt sell it, and threw it away
That's not necessarily true that they will throw things out that are past dating. Sometimes they end up in food drives for the poor.
Around here, charities never ever take anything that is expired. It kind of makes me mad because it is still good even though it is expired, but you won't find any expired food around here where I live.
I get many expired items free at the food pantry because Social Security is not enough to live on. I have never got sick from any of those items.
I think it all depends on what the item is.You may get away with it: you may not. I wouldn't risk a soft cheese more than a day over, free or not. Is it legal to sell expired items in the U.S?
Yes Marg. I have never seen an expired food in any stores where I live or any food pantries or charity places. They will not take them as it is illegal to sell or give away expired products
It is kind of sad to see whole loaves of bread that are perfectly fine thrown away. No mold on them or anything bad.
In New Mexico, it's common to have items past expiration in the food boxes. I don't remember about cheese because it's been a long time since I've gotten any. Bread is one thing that can be anywhere from 10-14 days past expiration to a week before expiration at our food banks. Cereal, crackers, and canned goods are frequently past expiration. Produce may be perfect or ready for the compost pile. I've even had salads that were frozen because the store that donated them throws everything into the freezer to retard further spoilage before they donate them. When asking my friend what I could do with a frozen salad, he told me to throw it in soup as you would cabbage or other things. Weird, but it worked.
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