Why do grocery stores throw out old food and not give it to the poor?

halsca

Even though the food maybe perfectly edible they don't want to risk being sued if someone gets sick. This was told to me by people working at food banks and the like. It's strictly a liability issue.

There once was a period during my wild and crazy youth where some friends I had to resort to dumpster diving to survive. Yes we were a bunch of screw ups.

You'd be surprised at some of the stuff they toss out. I mean it's still clean cold and perfectly wrapped up. Often pizza places toss out perfectly good whole pizzas because they couldn't find the delivery address.

hanora

Because it might be a health hazard.

Master Yoda

Because the food they throw out is not good, why would you want to feed poor people food that is not healthy?

schazjmd

It's illegal. If the food isn't fit to be sold, whether by arbitrary expiration date or actual spoilage, it isn't supposed to be given to people to consume.

mekka0125

Well I used to work for Albertsons grocery store. I was told that the store couldn't give out any old or expired food because if a customer eats it and gets sick, the store could get sued. I heard about this one incident, when a customer gave his animals old lettuce that the produce department was about to throw out. He claimed that his animal got sick and tried to sue the company.

chrystal f

because it can be spoiled and if someone was to get sick eating it they could sue the grocery store its just the way it is they do that to make sure they don't have any unwanted lawsuits

cheesydo

It's old, hence not good to be eaten.
Would you give the poor diseases that would make them sick and kill them?
I don't think so.

Information Police

Many do donate old food to food banks and soup kitchens. It needs an organized effort.

I remember when the Community for Creative Non-violence in Washington DC held a special dinner for politicians to get money to help transport food being donated by grocery stores. They got some of the top chefs in DC to put together a world class gormet meal made from food that was being thrown away.

Worshipful Heart

some stores do give it to the poor. There is a woman in the neighborhood who picks up the 'older' but usually good produce from the local grocery stores and sorts it and distributes it to those in need in the area- you probably need to just go and ask- some people are allowed to pick up the older produce to give it to their farm animals also.
There is always the risk of lawsuits though- in this day and age of frivolous lawsuits, most places are afraid to give anything away because if someone by chance does get sick then they could be looking at trouble.

As far as produce goes though, I have seen what some stores throw out, some is not even past the expiration date, but if they get way too much of something they cannot sell fast enough it goes and a lot of it is nowhere near bad.

It never hurts to ask though, if you are interested in collecting and distributing , talk to the managers of the stores in oyur area and ask if you can pick up the produce they dispose of- they will tell you what day of the week they rotate and dispose and you may go and get nothing or nothing of any value but sometimes you may get gold-

Iti s sad that one of the most blessed nations in the world is one of the most wasteful and unappreciative.

Mr. Bugsme

They're afraid of being sued.

kittysoma27

If the food is not good enough to sale for a profit, then it is not good enough for anyone to eat. Grocery stores throw away food that is expired, they don't throw out perfectly good food otherwise they wouldn't make any money. I think that the poor would agree with me that they would rather pay $5 for meat then to have to pay $1,000 for a trip to the E.R.

MadKat

Because by LAW it is considered to be "soured" and could make them sick

Shannen

Would you want to eat spoiled food from the grocery store? They probably don't want to donate bruised bananas or stale crackers. Homeless people can got to a shelter and get better food anyways.

alexia

some food gets marked down if its damaged but the old food is not safe for consumption so they just throw it out so the poor don't get sick from it.

Snooks

To avoid potential lawsuits. Same reason as fast food establishments and restaurants.

Squeaky

Food poisoning!!!! And some suppliers enforce strict regulations on this too! They try to avoid lawsuits at all costs!

Caninelegion

Spoiled food for the poor is not a good thing.

sammi

because its illegal to be sold which means they cant give it away either

avnol22

some supermarkets over here give sandwiches and bread to the poor at the end of the day

Laura

i work in a pharmacy that is located inside a food store.
the reason that expired food that gets tossed because it is deemed inedible (not edible) and not safe too eat and pooible law suits.
what is the purpose of giving spoiled/rotten food to those who are poor when that person can get really sick off it and possibly sue the store?
what if you were the store manager who gave spoiled/rotten food to a poor person and that person got violently ill and sued you and your store. how would deal with that? would you feel guilty and settle out of court? what if you were sued and because of the law suit against the store, you lost sales because people heard what happened and don't want to shop at your store anymore?

math htr

i don't no i think it should i mean some people eat from the trash so why not just give it to them?

washomeless

Im not being funny, but i think that 'illness' or 'sueing' are stupid reasons not to give waste food to homeless people. I was homeless for quite some time, and a good portion of what i ate and drank used to come from the skips at the back of certain ' unnamed' supermarkets. When you are starving hungry, and have no other way to get food, you really dont give a sh*$ if the food is 1 day out of date, as long as its food!!! The amazing thing is i was once arrested for taking waste food from a skip.....i was charged with THEFT of all things. What kind of world do we live in that you can 'steal' something that has been thrown away?? anyway, thats my two pence worth.

truth

if the food they put on the shelves dont sell, it is tossed no questions asked. The food may not be bad, but if it dosnt sell in time it is tossed. all the wasted crap in the stores could feed many. But who cares right? idiots on here.

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