Loblaws throwing out good food!!

[tammytee]

Many people have tried to sue larger companies for expired product. I used to manage a large pet supply store, we were instructed from head office to destroy any food related products by two days before expiry. When I say destroy it was DESTROY!! Rip dog food and cat food bags apart in the dumpster, keep the UPCs to write product off,make sure food is very scattered in the dumpster. Same went for small animal foods, treats etc.
When I first started working there I didn't understand why, but being a manager I had to follow company policy, well after about 2 weeks of being there I soon understood why. I came to work at 6am to open store, there were some shifty looking people hanging around the dumpster. To make a long story short, one of the staff members didn't destroy some dog food good enough and a man tried to bring in the dog food claiming it made his dog ill and was going to sue the company, thank goodness for cameras, we proved that he got the food from the dumpster.
So yes I can see why companies destroy and throw out items. Some people will take advantage of anything

[betholio]

It is a shame but I understand why the stores have to do that because of food safety rules.

I had some almonds that I'd been hanging onto too long but I just fired them into a 400* oven for 7 minutes and now they're toasted and delicious!

[FallenPixels]

Yep, the shelter once helped someone out with some near expired stock they were donated, she came in crying she couldnt afford to feed her dog, then complained about the brand and tried to bring it back to the store for a refund (they had put the shelter's initials on the bags lol)

[lekate]

If you saw the amount of waste ( food and other items) that happens at most store, you would almost never believe it.
When I worked retail, I went to extreme efforts to change procedure so that far less went into landfill.
There are many factors about why this happens, but the waste loads of perfectly good stuff is immense.

I was notorious for talking customers out of returning items we couldn't return back to the shelf (anything perishable, meats, fish and frozen products).

There's probably a law regarding this. They would be liable if someone were to get sick, which could result in millions lost.

[Sally888]

Theres law of what they can sell past expiry etc for Canada (at least what ive been told)

[lekate]

Yep, the shelter once helped someone out with some near expired stock they were donated, she came in crying she couldnt afford to feed her dog, then complained about the brand and tried to bring it back to the store for a refund (they had put the shelter's initials on the bags lol)

My pet store donates to shelters, but we have to cross out the UPC. Good luck trying to return something with that!

[FallenPixels]

Yep, these were close to expiry but not expired, they had crossed the UPC out and put the initials of the shelters name on the top of the bags, they brought it in claiming they had recently bought it but there would not be enough time before it expired for her dog to eat it and he was eating something they no longer carried now, so could she have her $$ back

[greencanuck]

What a shame that a minority of people who are determined to score a rip-off has caused a ripple effect of massive amounts of waste thousands of times more than the scammers would even ever contact !

[lekate]

Yep, these were close to expiry but not expired, they had crossed the UPC out and put the initials of the shelters name on the top of the bags, they brought it in claiming they had recently bought it but there would not be enough time before it expired for her dog to eat it and he was eating something they no longer carried now, so could she have her $$ back

We're a small store, so we keep track of things, a customer came in looking for an adapter for a water fountain, don't sell that, maybe you should contact the company that makes it, bought a new one in the meantime. I made sure to tell my 3 other coworkers not to return this item because it would probably be swapped out for the dead adapter. (the original purchase was over a year ago).

[Shwa Girl]

Good for them, in a way, for being careful about expiry dates! There are often threads on here about people who purchase items without checking the expiry dates, then complain because something is wrong with the items.

Yes, of course, there is waste from stores - but they have rules for health and safety reasons.

You are right Natalka. The employee was right to discard the food.

Can you imagine the negative press if people got sick off products sold in a Loblaws store? Loblaws already had to deal with negative press when there was a hepatitis outbreak in their store:
http://www.paliareroland.com/pdfs/lo...settlement.pdf

[lll111]

I would rather them throw out the food then change the date on the item, especially meat.

[Judyhill]

It is all so sad, all that goes to waste. I have become so much more aware of it since I started using coupons and coming on here. I will eat things that I am not really even fond of because I don't want it to go to waste because it was a good deal and was healthy. I can remember the days when there were no expiry dates on anything.

It really irked me because unless its a really good deal, all the meat I will buy is the reduced. Someone I know said they would not buy that. My reply was, well it could just be the matter of if you were in front of the girl with the stickers or behind them. Another factor, will I pay 2 times as much to be able to let that meat set in the fridge until the day before expiry until I use it or freeze or get it half price at the store and cook it right away or use it right away.

As far as cheese goes, old cheese is an option when buying and they use it in trying to sell it, saying like 6 year old cheese. I would use it if it was outdated and it would not bother me any about cutting off mold. I've seen that done all the time when I was growing up.

Another thing, I think a lot of companies benefit from those expiry dates. I have expensive sunscreen here and does it go bad from one day to the next. Do I say; oh, that expired last week, now I need to go out and buy a new one for 15.00 or so.

I just really, really hate now to see things go to waste.

[Shwa Girl]

Another thing, I think a lot of companies benefit from those expiry dates. I have expensive sunscreen here and does it go bad from one day to the next. Do I say; oh, that expired last week, now I need to go out and buy a new one for 15.00 or so.

I just really, really hate now to see things go to waste.

Over time, the ingredients in the sunscreen break down naturally. The company cannot guarantee that will be protected if the product is expired. Their quality control tests is what they use to determine the sunscreen expiry.

They put the date so you won't sue them if you get skin cancer, IMHO.

[debragirl31]

I know someone who gets a lot of the expired food to feed their chickens. Vanloads of produce.

[lekate]

It is all so sad, all that goes to waste. I have become so much more aware of it since I started using coupons and coming on here. I will eat things that I am not really even fond of because I don't want it to go to waste because it was a good deal and was healthy. I can remember the days when there were no expiry dates on anything.

It really irked me because unless its a really good deal, all the meat I will buy is the reduced. Someone I know said they would not buy that. My reply was, well it could just be the matter of if you were in front of the girl with the stickers or behind them. Another factor, will I pay 2 times as much to be able to let that meat set in the fridge until the day before expiry until I use it or freeze or get it half price at the store and cook it right away or use it right away.

As far as cheese goes, old cheese is an option when buying and they use it in trying to sell it, saying like 6 year old cheese. I would use it if it was outdated and it would not bother me any about cutting off mold. I've seen that done all the time when I was growing up.

Another thing, I think a lot of companies benefit from those expiry dates. I have expensive sunscreen here and does it go bad from one day to the next. Do I say; oh, that expired last week, now I need to go out and buy a new one for 15.00 or so.

I just really, really hate now to see things go to waste.

A lot of expiry dates are about liabilities and I don't blame these companies protecting themselves. Dairy expiry dates are generally about a week earlier than they need be, but again, for that one product that does go bad they've saved themselves. Smelling something and knowing the signs of something gone rancid isn't too hard for us to muster, but meh, if someone wants to go by that little date then by all means.

Shwa does have it right on the sunscreen, active ingredients degrade over time and become useless, same with in medicines and vitamins...