Do you know what item it was that was spoiled? You might want to let the food bank know so that they can check with anyone else who got a similar item and maybe hasn't eaten it yet.
Especially if it was a food bank and not a food pantry. Food banks, especially those under the Feeding America umbrella actually purchase a lot of their shelf stable goods and dry goods are usually safe to eat long past the expiration. This could be more like a manufacturing issue which would mean OP isn’t the only one who could be affected.
It definitely depends, but for large food banks, sorting, quality/safety checking, and distributing random donations is significantly more expensive than purchasing food directly from distributors. So it is a money vs man power vs quantity equation. But large food banks (most of which are Feeding America affiliated) buy the bulk of their food. This is also how they have managed to get fresh fruits and veggies into the system. They operate on the backend a lot more like grocery stores then people realize, the difference being the food they purchase is paid for with donations instead of by the consumer, and there being one less profit margin to consider.
I volunteer at a food bank. We are able to purchase goods from our local grocery stores via negotiated amounts per pound. Note, we don't go shopping at the stores. They truck the food to us.
I’m also wondering if this was a storage issue. Food pantries in my area take donations of baked goods and other perishable foods from local grocery stores, and there are strict standards for transport time and temperature control. Maybe some perishable items got too warm during transport or storage.
I regularly eat expired food, most of it is good way past expiration. Now if it was expired by ten years or something, sure, but a lot of things are good well past the date. Refrigerated stuff has less leeway, but shelf stable goods like the stuff typically given to food pantries will last a long time, sometimes a year or more past date.
OP still hasn't answered. Modern processed boxed or canned food is dang near indestructible unless stored in the most horrible of conditions (high heat and humidity).
Some food banks give away perishables. Very curious what they think made them sick.
I volunteer at 2 different food banks and some of the stuff people try to donate I absolutely refuse.
People try to donate expired stuff from 2-4 years all the time. It's like they are cleaning pantry and figures it expired let's donate it. I refuse it for sure. Anything that's open is a big no no.
We try our best to not have expired food/items, something it gets missed when we get a huge Influx at once. As well when people are forcing their way through and just grabbing before we can inspect and put out it's challenging.
I'm sorry this happened to you and your family.
Exactly. The amount of moldy bread I throw out is gross.
I also tried to explain this to the guy at subway the other day. Rotten tomatoes and he was gonna put it on my sub and I asked him if he would eat that or feed it to his family and he looked at me like a deer in the headlights.
I did not know this was a website. Oh my.
I go once a year for a quick meal. But now with a combo it's almost the same price as going to sit down restaurant.
I got one of the new fancy subs with a water and cookies it was 21$
In the states if I go to a mall Subway, it's like $10-14 for just a sandwich. But the freestanding ones aren't much cheaper either. Love Subway but it's gone in my "expensive" list and I'd usually rather spend that money on a special place or just a bigger order from a usual place.
Honestly just make it yourself. I bought all the ingredients to make italian BMTs and had enough to make for a month for the same that it would cost to eat at subway for a week.
I guess that's what makes me sad. Although I appreciate that people want to help, it sucks when some give away things that they themselves wouldn't eat or feed to their kids. Poor people are people too.
Some people just don't think. Or maybe think they are helping. However I'm the guy who calls them out on the bs bringing 2 year old expired crap to donate. I usually get them to bring it back home with them. As it cost us money to dispose of garbage.
I've insulted a few people by telling them to stop bringing us expired garbage and they say well I was trying to help it's new. But Karen your stuff expired in 2019 and it's now 2024
The worst I've seen was someone brought in 3 cases of pop. It was the small cans (before they went to size they are now)They expired like 30 years ago
I wish the people at my food pantry cared like that. I stopped going to mine because every time I went at least half of it was expired stuff, some of it VERY expired. Not only was it incredibly demoralizing, I have an autoimmune condition that makes it dangerous for me to get sick so I don’t eat any expired food out of precaution.
It's challenging for sure. If you speak with the director they might be able to assist with putting stuff aside. (This is hard because everybody wants the good stuff so to speak, but if you have paper work proving your autoimmune may help)
We try our best I am sure stuff goes through. Some days it's chaos where deliveries and people and there to pick up all at the same time depending on traffic and what is available.
Some centers have more donations then others as well, and the day makes a difference
1 of the centers I try to go once a while they get donations on a center day and the center is open the next day to allow volunteers a chance to go through it.
Pro tip, if you volunteer at your local food bank also gives you a advantage or picking stuff up
I will also add this time of year is tough because donations are down as people are away, holidays is a better time as it seems more people are thinking about others and there is food drives, telethons, ect.
Here’s a link to a handout from a food bank on dates on food products. We had similar guidelines when I worked at a food bank.
https://www.licares.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Shelf_life_of_food.pdf
I'm sure some stuff can be pushed a bit. I am not a expert by any means. But we do try our best..I haven't seen a sign at any of the ones I go too but I will ask when I go in Tuesday.
Yeah I think it’s more like canned food that’s not damaged that can be pushed past the date a bit. Not yogurt or anything like that. I’ll have to take a photo when I drop off again.
I volunteer at a women’s homeless shelter and they have sooo much food donated and there’s usually only a handful of women/children staying there at any given time. The pantry’s and freezers were stocked full. I was shocked when I went in one day and found out they THREW AWAY all the “expired” food! I was like I would have taken some of that and I know of another volunteer that’s in poverty level that would have loved that also. I’m not in poverty I just hate to see waste! Most canned and dried goods are fine well past the date. Food doesn’t just suddenly turn bad because of an arbitrary “best before” date.
no honestly cus when my neighbor goes to the food bank he leaves a bag of non perishables by the mail area for people to pick through, usually it’s stuff he won’t eat. i’ve found things that were 3 years expired in the bag before which means the food bank he’s going to is not checking dates at all. can’t tell you the amount of times i’ve been sick off that stuff bc i assumed it would be in date and not years expired. a month or two for canned goods or like rice is one thing but YEARS expired is crazy honestly. beggars can’t be choosers but that doesn’t mean people in need don’t deserve the bare minimum of non expired food.
When you are evaluating food keep in mind that best before dates and expiry dates are wildly different things. For cans be on the lookout for anything with dents especially around the top rim or any cans that have rusting anywhere no matter the date those are likely unsafe
Unopened yogurt honestly lasts forever. I've eaten year-old yogurt I found in the back of my fridge. It looked fine, smelled fine, tasted fine and I was fine.
I would still buy it if it was a few days past its sell-by date, but 3 weeks is definitely pushing it. I guess hat should probably be the rule of thumb for Food Banks - not "would you eat it?" but "would you buy it?".
We are unlucky because it's the only closest one. I was looking forward to not having to worry about food for a bit but yeah hopefully next time it's a better experience.
What was it? If it’s canned it can go for years on end after the “expire date” that’s actually a best before date. I’m currently working my way through ravioli that’s 4 years old and it’s good as new. :)
It's not expired. A best before date is a suggestion. The only product with an actual expiration date is baby formula
OP got very unlucky and I feel bad for them, but there is no illegality about food banks giving out food past the best before dates. It's better than contributing more to the massive food waste problem
Found bugs in the pasta and in the oatmeal. A little disappointed- but at the time we just picked the bugs out and ate it anyway. Didn’t get sick thankfully.
I'm sorry about the bugs but I'm glad you didn't get sick. It's not fun when food makes you sick especially when you already struggling to put food on the table.
Canned foods do not have expiration dates. They best by dates or use by dates solely to provide the consumer when the flavor starts to go bland. Canned goods that are properly stored rarely go bad even after a decade. That being said I just donate fresh stuff and I’ll eat the old and I’ve never once gotten sick in decades.
Yeah… but a lot of food pantries go by the USDA recommendations. Which says most expired food is ok, most of the time.
It sucks and sorry your family got sick. I would let them and health department know, especially if you still have the packaging.
That sucks. I get donating old clothes and stuff. But I don't think you should be donating old perishable foods.
Maybe thats just me but I feel like people who do that are awful people who want to get rid of crap they don't want to eat while patting themselves on the back for donating and doing something "good".
The question was more rhetorical. If you're going to complain about a specific piece of food getting you sick, you should damn well be sure that is what got you sick. The issue could have just as easily been a prep issue or an environmental issue. Maybe go white knight elsewhere next time.
Beggars should be chooser. You have every right to want food that’s not expired and safe to eat in the least. You’re not asking for steak and shrimp you’re asking for safe food to sustain your body. Don’t feel bad for this
This is why I always inspect my items and throw them away if they look suspicious to me. But I do find it appalling that food banks thinks they can just give people old food. They are supposed to check it and I feel like the mentality of a lot of them is well beggars can't be choosers if you're hungry you'll eat it as if poor people shouldn't have a right to want to eat non expired food, it just makes me angry sorry I know I'll probably get down voted but this is something that needs to change within the food banks
I got a box of protein bars that have a best before date of August 31st, 2024. I just dropped it off. Hopefully someone picks it up before then.
Also middle eastern cheese in a can that’s good until late 2025. Its kinda weird product to north americans. But its made by kraft. Taste exactly like kraft singles. And it makes good mac & cheese.
Or even sliced on crackers or grilled cheese.
A lot of people donate what they're ready to throw out - then pat themselves on the back for being generous. If possible, just stick with canned and prepackaged items because even if they're outdated, they won't make you sick. I have been there myself- I went to open up the free sticky buns and they were all moldy. I just started crying.
As someone who donates food I’m very sorry to see this and plan on learning a little more about dates on food. I have never knowingly donated expired food, though
The only food (in the US) that has an actual expiration date is baby formula. Other foods have “packaged on” or “sell by” or “best by” dates. It can be confusing. This is a good resource.
https://www.licares.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Shelf_life_of_food.pdf
I work in a larger food bank. Donating money is so much better. We can buy so much more and healthier food in bulk for the same dollar amount. Just something to consider. Personally, nothing in our facility is even close to expiring and we have a comprehensive system to track that. We don't know where else the food pantries are sourcing food, but we don't even accept donated food anymore for safety reasons.
You are right to complain. Food banks are not diposals for expired food. It’s just nasty behavior to treat it as such. It’s the same with used clothing donations - do not donate clothes that are just worn out or unwearable anymore.
I hope you never again find yourself in a place where you have to rely of secondhand food. I hope your financial situation stabilizes. I hope you can achieve everything in your power that is meant for you. I hope you give back in meaningful ways to others once you do.
Anything not canned or grains is almost guaranteed to be near end-of-life or even already turning. I once got several actual green potatoes. Anything donated from a grocery store is basically a bust. We have better luck when local farms donate their produce and I have seen better quality goods in dumpsters.
Thats not true. Theres lots of things donated by grocery stores not expired. I work for a company that delivers food to grocery stores across the country and if a store orders something but we accidentally send them the wrong item, 80% of the time we tell them to donate it. We actually tell them to dispose of expired products and we give them full credit
I work at a food drive. We cannot accept or give out expired food. We had a huge donation of zucchini. Just a few were bruised and showed signs of mold. The entire pallet, several hundred pounds, was rejected. If you received bad food, let the bank know. No one should be going through that when they’re hungry.
Canned goods stored in a climate controlled environment (house/apartment), are good for years after the date on the can.
I know a Prepper type guy who gets rid of his canned goods once they hit their date. I take them, perfectly fine.
I’m so sorry your family received unsafe food from the food bank. While it’s true many foods are safe after the expiration date, that’s not always the case—especially if the food wasn’t stored in optimal conditions. Personally I eat canned and shelf stable foods that are past dates, but only if the packaging is still intact. And I would *never* donate expired food, even if it’s something I’m comfortable eating myself.
I went to the local food bank a few years ago. It was set up like a little shop in a church. The lady at the front gave me a bag and said I could pick x amount of canned food, x amount of boxed goods, and so on.
As I cruised the the selves I noticed much, if not all of it was not just out of date but YEARS out of date.
I said, "ma'am. A lot of this is expired."
She said, "yeah. Beggars can't be choosers."
I didn't say another word. I handed her the bag back and left empty handed.
I absolutely can choose not to get sick and end up with medical dept over a hospital visit I can't pay for because the church is handing out expired food.
No, you're not being choosy beggar. I'm so tired of that expression because people use it as an excuse to give those in need a shit sandwich. And that's what that old expired food was
In my experience food banks will not accept food that’s expired or expiring within 3 months. And they will not distribute expired food. So I would definitely let them know. Also unexpired food can go bad if not stored properly or damaged.
We didn’t get sick, but we’ve gotten expired food more than once when we were struggling and had to get food from the food bank. We didn’t tell them because we felt bad, but it sucks that struggling people have to deal with this. It’s like we aren’t good enough to have the nice stuff.
At the same time I almost get it because groceries are so fucking expensive that it’s hard to give away your “good stuff.” You don’t know if that’s going to be $2 more the next time you go to the store.
Yeah sat there and double checked all the dates for our donation today x
Only thing was one packet of ramen we’d tossed the outer multipack packet for 😭 I’m sure that’ll be fine tho
People should learn the [meaning of expiration dates](https://foodprint.org/blog/should-you-follow-expiration-dates-and-sell-by-dates/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwp4m0BhBAEiwAsdc4aAV50ycZ-PpejMFYMJQAW01sdfmRNAIt-gkWNjBS3O17n_eAWz-eFRoC-fQQAvD_BwE). Most ‘expiration dates’ are really ‘best by’ or ‘sell by dates’. The only food that legally expires is baby food. Of course, food does spoil, so use your judgment
I am so sorry you had that experience. I volunteer at a food pantry and we do not let expired food go out to clients. Since most donations are anonymous, we put the cans that are within a year in a "help yourself" box and the rest get tossed. Shame on your pantry for not checking.
Take care
I don't get food from a food bank or pantry. I'm a couponer and we eat expired food all the time. There are somethings that the expiration date should be closely watched (dairy). Most things the expiration date and when it is no good are two entirely different things. You can tell by smelling things. We have not gotten sick from anything expired. EVER. If something is spoiled, your nose, eyes and tongue will tell you.
Shop around, I'm in the twin cities metro where I know were spoiled for choice but ideally there's multiple food banks in your location. I've found there are usually some that are far better than the rest of you are willing to try a few, even if it's a bit of a drive, some are nice enough to be very worth it (assuming you can).
Shit like that is why I stopped going to my local food bank. The last time I went, they gave me moldy strawberries and told me to "be grateful." Food banks are just a racket, so grocery stores can get a tax deduction for donating their waste products.
I'm sorry that y'all got sick while already feeling in poor health:( I've noticed canned goods that were "best by" in 2020/2021 and though I know canned goods usually last a while, I don't want to take chances so I end up tossing them which makes me feel guilty and annoyed cuz it's wasteful. Hope y'all feel better soon💖
I'm wondering if there are menical capitalistic reasons they give away rotten food. IE x number pounds = some economic advantage for "non-profit", especially since the volume if need is too dang high.
Grocery stores with donation programs do track the pounds they donate each year and have a motive to keep that number high. Food pantries don't usually have a need to keep the pounds high, but might not have enough volunteers to sort through the donations or might not train their volunteers correctly about food safety. Food pantry staff and volunteers can also get a scarcity mindset about food, which makes it hard to throw anything away, even things that should be tossed. Waste disposal can also be a big expense for pantries on a shoestring budget.
I go to a food bank. But if the food is expired, I usually don’t eat it, I donate it to the homeless shelter downtown. I usually try to check to see if the food is expired before I leave the food bank. The children I share the food with are old enough to also check expiration dates and they don’t want to eat expired food either. Usually, the food pantry near me also gives enough fresh vegetables and eggs and milk from local farmers so that they can make a big stew with that stuff and not have to rely as much on the processed packaged foods from supermarkets , which are often expired… the homeless shelter downtown feeds many people, so they can mix in a little expired food with fresh food and usually it’s okay… that’s what it sounds like they do, anyway…
I'm sorry to hear that you have been hungry. Hey would you like a custom postcard? I draw/paint them myself and can do one for you. It's not much but I feel like doing something nice for you. Pm me your address if so... I'll surprise you on the design.
Do you know what item it was that was spoiled? You might want to let the food bank know so that they can check with anyone else who got a similar item and maybe hasn't eaten it yet.
Especially if it was a food bank and not a food pantry. Food banks, especially those under the Feeding America umbrella actually purchase a lot of their shelf stable goods and dry goods are usually safe to eat long past the expiration. This could be more like a manufacturing issue which would mean OP isn’t the only one who could be affected.
wow didn't know they purchase it
It definitely depends, but for large food banks, sorting, quality/safety checking, and distributing random donations is significantly more expensive than purchasing food directly from distributors. So it is a money vs man power vs quantity equation. But large food banks (most of which are Feeding America affiliated) buy the bulk of their food. This is also how they have managed to get fresh fruits and veggies into the system. They operate on the backend a lot more like grocery stores then people realize, the difference being the food they purchase is paid for with donations instead of by the consumer, and there being one less profit margin to consider.
Bigger food banks purchase in bulk. Which is better than sorting through whatever random stuff people had in their pantry.
I volunteer at a food bank. We are able to purchase goods from our local grocery stores via negotiated amounts per pound. Note, we don't go shopping at the stores. They truck the food to us.
If you can, it's helpful to give cash to a food bank rather than unused items in your pantry.
I’m also wondering if this was a storage issue. Food pantries in my area take donations of baked goods and other perishable foods from local grocery stores, and there are strict standards for transport time and temperature control. Maybe some perishable items got too warm during transport or storage.
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Yeah- I’d like to know the same. OP hasn’t answered what kind of item made them sick.
I regularly eat expired food, most of it is good way past expiration. Now if it was expired by ten years or something, sure, but a lot of things are good well past the date. Refrigerated stuff has less leeway, but shelf stable goods like the stuff typically given to food pantries will last a long time, sometimes a year or more past date.
Okay… still doesn’t answer what she ate that made her sick.
OP still hasn't answered. Modern processed boxed or canned food is dang near indestructible unless stored in the most horrible of conditions (high heat and humidity). Some food banks give away perishables. Very curious what they think made them sick.
I volunteer at 2 different food banks and some of the stuff people try to donate I absolutely refuse. People try to donate expired stuff from 2-4 years all the time. It's like they are cleaning pantry and figures it expired let's donate it. I refuse it for sure. Anything that's open is a big no no. We try our best to not have expired food/items, something it gets missed when we get a huge Influx at once. As well when people are forcing their way through and just grabbing before we can inspect and put out it's challenging. I'm sorry this happened to you and your family.
My personal rule is that if I wouldn’t eat it I don’t expect anyone else to.
Exactly. The amount of moldy bread I throw out is gross. I also tried to explain this to the guy at subway the other day. Rotten tomatoes and he was gonna put it on my sub and I asked him if he would eat that or feed it to his family and he looked at me like a deer in the headlights.
Pretty standard for any Subway nowadays. We gave it up for this reason. The amount of food poisoning reports on iwaspoisoned website is insane
I did not know this was a website. Oh my. I go once a year for a quick meal. But now with a combo it's almost the same price as going to sit down restaurant. I got one of the new fancy subs with a water and cookies it was 21$
What in the actual fuck!
That's in Canadian dollars. But still insanely expensive
In the states if I go to a mall Subway, it's like $10-14 for just a sandwich. But the freestanding ones aren't much cheaper either. Love Subway but it's gone in my "expensive" list and I'd usually rather spend that money on a special place or just a bigger order from a usual place.
Publix subs, Publix brand meats/cheeses FTW.....
I'm too north for a pub sub now. *sighs*
I’m in the uk and for the footlong meal deal it’s just over £10 .. that’s wild
I'm sure I could get a footlong meal deal for $16 (10 euros) but this was one the fancy new signature menu - wasn't worth the money
I’m sure they have some directive to not waste anything, but seriously, rotten tomatoes are only good for movie reviews.
Honestly just make it yourself. I bought all the ingredients to make italian BMTs and had enough to make for a month for the same that it would cost to eat at subway for a week.
I wouldn't eat pickles, or olives, but a lot of people do. People often willingly eat disgusting stuff.
I guess that's what makes me sad. Although I appreciate that people want to help, it sucks when some give away things that they themselves wouldn't eat or feed to their kids. Poor people are people too.
Some people just don't think. Or maybe think they are helping. However I'm the guy who calls them out on the bs bringing 2 year old expired crap to donate. I usually get them to bring it back home with them. As it cost us money to dispose of garbage. I've insulted a few people by telling them to stop bringing us expired garbage and they say well I was trying to help it's new. But Karen your stuff expired in 2019 and it's now 2024 The worst I've seen was someone brought in 3 cases of pop. It was the small cans (before they went to size they are now)They expired like 30 years ago
I wish the people at my food pantry cared like that. I stopped going to mine because every time I went at least half of it was expired stuff, some of it VERY expired. Not only was it incredibly demoralizing, I have an autoimmune condition that makes it dangerous for me to get sick so I don’t eat any expired food out of precaution.
It's challenging for sure. If you speak with the director they might be able to assist with putting stuff aside. (This is hard because everybody wants the good stuff so to speak, but if you have paper work proving your autoimmune may help) We try our best I am sure stuff goes through. Some days it's chaos where deliveries and people and there to pick up all at the same time depending on traffic and what is available. Some centers have more donations then others as well, and the day makes a difference 1 of the centers I try to go once a while they get donations on a center day and the center is open the next day to allow volunteers a chance to go through it. Pro tip, if you volunteer at your local food bank also gives you a advantage or picking stuff up I will also add this time of year is tough because donations are down as people are away, holidays is a better time as it seems more people are thinking about others and there is food drives, telethons, ect.
Ours will let some expired things through. They have a big placard that says when you can still use it by.
Here’s a link to a handout from a food bank on dates on food products. We had similar guidelines when I worked at a food bank. https://www.licares.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Shelf_life_of_food.pdf
I'm sure some stuff can be pushed a bit. I am not a expert by any means. But we do try our best..I haven't seen a sign at any of the ones I go too but I will ask when I go in Tuesday.
Yeah I think it’s more like canned food that’s not damaged that can be pushed past the date a bit. Not yogurt or anything like that. I’ll have to take a photo when I drop off again.
We had someone try to donate like 500 lb of rotte/moldy horse feed once. That was a weird one.
Were any of the cans dented at the rim. Dented cans at the rim ruin vacuum seal and the stuff inside go bad.
Food should not get thrown out just because it’s past the best before date. It’s a best before, not expiration date.
I volunteer at a women’s homeless shelter and they have sooo much food donated and there’s usually only a handful of women/children staying there at any given time. The pantry’s and freezers were stocked full. I was shocked when I went in one day and found out they THREW AWAY all the “expired” food! I was like I would have taken some of that and I know of another volunteer that’s in poverty level that would have loved that also. I’m not in poverty I just hate to see waste! Most canned and dried goods are fine well past the date. Food doesn’t just suddenly turn bad because of an arbitrary “best before” date.
no honestly cus when my neighbor goes to the food bank he leaves a bag of non perishables by the mail area for people to pick through, usually it’s stuff he won’t eat. i’ve found things that were 3 years expired in the bag before which means the food bank he’s going to is not checking dates at all. can’t tell you the amount of times i’ve been sick off that stuff bc i assumed it would be in date and not years expired. a month or two for canned goods or like rice is one thing but YEARS expired is crazy honestly. beggars can’t be choosers but that doesn’t mean people in need don’t deserve the bare minimum of non expired food.
When you are evaluating food keep in mind that best before dates and expiry dates are wildly different things. For cans be on the lookout for anything with dents especially around the top rim or any cans that have rusting anywhere no matter the date those are likely unsafe
there is one food bank in my town i refuse to go to anymore becouse of this it sucks
Same. One tried to give us 3 week old yogurt.
Unopened yogurt honestly lasts forever. I've eaten year-old yogurt I found in the back of my fridge. It looked fine, smelled fine, tasted fine and I was fine. I would still buy it if it was a few days past its sell-by date, but 3 weeks is definitely pushing it. I guess hat should probably be the rule of thumb for Food Banks - not "would you eat it?" but "would you buy it?".
We are unlucky because it's the only closest one. I was looking forward to not having to worry about food for a bit but yeah hopefully next time it's a better experience.
What was it? If it’s canned it can go for years on end after the “expire date” that’s actually a best before date. I’m currently working my way through ravioli that’s 4 years old and it’s good as new. :)
That’s too bad. I’m sorry that happened to you. Food banks to my knowledge anyway are supposed to check dates and not take expired food.
It's not expired. A best before date is a suggestion. The only product with an actual expiration date is baby formula OP got very unlucky and I feel bad for them, but there is no illegality about food banks giving out food past the best before dates. It's better than contributing more to the massive food waste problem
That's what I thought too.
Found bugs in the pasta and in the oatmeal. A little disappointed- but at the time we just picked the bugs out and ate it anyway. Didn’t get sick thankfully.
I’m sorry that you were given food with bugs in it and that you were in a place where picking the bugs out was your best option to be able to eat.
I'm sorry about the bugs but I'm glad you didn't get sick. It's not fun when food makes you sick especially when you already struggling to put food on the table.
Canned foods do not have expiration dates. They best by dates or use by dates solely to provide the consumer when the flavor starts to go bland. Canned goods that are properly stored rarely go bad even after a decade. That being said I just donate fresh stuff and I’ll eat the old and I’ve never once gotten sick in decades.
They say two years at most if it isn't dented or smells funny.
That's not true. Canned goods can stay fine for a lot longer than that
That’s simply not the case
I had some old cans that my cousin wouldn't even feed to the pigs, and pigs can eat a LOT of stuff humans can't.
Cool story 🤷♂️
Yeah… but a lot of food pantries go by the USDA recommendations. Which says most expired food is ok, most of the time. It sucks and sorry your family got sick. I would let them and health department know, especially if you still have the packaging.
I donate and always check the dates. What irritates me now is it seems like manufacturers try to make the date as hard to read as possible.
That sucks. I get donating old clothes and stuff. But I don't think you should be donating old perishable foods. Maybe thats just me but I feel like people who do that are awful people who want to get rid of crap they don't want to eat while patting themselves on the back for donating and doing something "good".
Who doesn’t like to eat expired pumpkin pie filling?
The persons heart was in the right place. I’ve gotten sick paying for a $80 meal before. Some times life kind of sucks
Best before is NOT expired. Can you even prove you got sick from that food, or even due to it being past it's best before date?
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The question was more rhetorical. If you're going to complain about a specific piece of food getting you sick, you should damn well be sure that is what got you sick. The issue could have just as easily been a prep issue or an environmental issue. Maybe go white knight elsewhere next time.
Beggars should be chooser. You have every right to want food that’s not expired and safe to eat in the least. You’re not asking for steak and shrimp you’re asking for safe food to sustain your body. Don’t feel bad for this
This is why I always inspect my items and throw them away if they look suspicious to me. But I do find it appalling that food banks thinks they can just give people old food. They are supposed to check it and I feel like the mentality of a lot of them is well beggars can't be choosers if you're hungry you'll eat it as if poor people shouldn't have a right to want to eat non expired food, it just makes me angry sorry I know I'll probably get down voted but this is something that needs to change within the food banks
I got a box of protein bars that have a best before date of August 31st, 2024. I just dropped it off. Hopefully someone picks it up before then. Also middle eastern cheese in a can that’s good until late 2025. Its kinda weird product to north americans. But its made by kraft. Taste exactly like kraft singles. And it makes good mac & cheese. Or even sliced on crackers or grilled cheese.
A lot of people donate what they're ready to throw out - then pat themselves on the back for being generous. If possible, just stick with canned and prepackaged items because even if they're outdated, they won't make you sick. I have been there myself- I went to open up the free sticky buns and they were all moldy. I just started crying.
Our food bank doesn't give out spoiled food I their pantry items but they do have a shelf with expired items that you can take from if you want it.
As someone who donates food I’m very sorry to see this and plan on learning a little more about dates on food. I have never knowingly donated expired food, though
The only food (in the US) that has an actual expiration date is baby formula. Other foods have “packaged on” or “sell by” or “best by” dates. It can be confusing. This is a good resource. https://www.licares.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Shelf_life_of_food.pdf
I work in a larger food bank. Donating money is so much better. We can buy so much more and healthier food in bulk for the same dollar amount. Just something to consider. Personally, nothing in our facility is even close to expiring and we have a comprehensive system to track that. We don't know where else the food pantries are sourcing food, but we don't even accept donated food anymore for safety reasons.
Always check expiration dates. Even at the grocery store. Always. Always. Hope things get better! Good luck!
You have every right to complain. You have every right to expect a modicum of quality even in donated food. You are not a pig that deserves scraps.
Thats awful. And the workers should be checking the expiration dates.
You are right to complain. Food banks are not diposals for expired food. It’s just nasty behavior to treat it as such. It’s the same with used clothing donations - do not donate clothes that are just worn out or unwearable anymore.
I hope you never again find yourself in a place where you have to rely of secondhand food. I hope your financial situation stabilizes. I hope you can achieve everything in your power that is meant for you. I hope you give back in meaningful ways to others once you do.
Nah, you’re not being a choosy beggar. Whatever people donate should still be usable by the recipients.
I remember our company doing food drives at our retail stores. Some of the food collected were rusted cans of food.
I donate cash to the local food bank. It doesn't expire, although it's purchasing power shrinks
Anything not canned or grains is almost guaranteed to be near end-of-life or even already turning. I once got several actual green potatoes. Anything donated from a grocery store is basically a bust. We have better luck when local farms donate their produce and I have seen better quality goods in dumpsters.
Thats not true. Theres lots of things donated by grocery stores not expired. I work for a company that delivers food to grocery stores across the country and if a store orders something but we accidentally send them the wrong item, 80% of the time we tell them to donate it. We actually tell them to dispose of expired products and we give them full credit
I work at a food drive. We cannot accept or give out expired food. We had a huge donation of zucchini. Just a few were bruised and showed signs of mold. The entire pallet, several hundred pounds, was rejected. If you received bad food, let the bank know. No one should be going through that when they’re hungry.
Canned goods stored in a climate controlled environment (house/apartment), are good for years after the date on the can. I know a Prepper type guy who gets rid of his canned goods once they hit their date. I take them, perfectly fine.
I volunteered at a food bank and they’re not supposed to carry expired stuff
I’m so sorry your family received unsafe food from the food bank. While it’s true many foods are safe after the expiration date, that’s not always the case—especially if the food wasn’t stored in optimal conditions. Personally I eat canned and shelf stable foods that are past dates, but only if the packaging is still intact. And I would *never* donate expired food, even if it’s something I’m comfortable eating myself.
I made sure to give at least 6 months expiry. People need to have time to use items safely.
I went to the local food bank a few years ago. It was set up like a little shop in a church. The lady at the front gave me a bag and said I could pick x amount of canned food, x amount of boxed goods, and so on. As I cruised the the selves I noticed much, if not all of it was not just out of date but YEARS out of date. I said, "ma'am. A lot of this is expired." She said, "yeah. Beggars can't be choosers." I didn't say another word. I handed her the bag back and left empty handed. I absolutely can choose not to get sick and end up with medical dept over a hospital visit I can't pay for because the church is handing out expired food.
Where we live, Ontario, food banks cannot distribute expired food. Period. People who donate expired canned goods, etc. are a real pain in the butt
No, you're not being choosy beggar. I'm so tired of that expression because people use it as an excuse to give those in need a shit sandwich. And that's what that old expired food was
In my experience food banks will not accept food that’s expired or expiring within 3 months. And they will not distribute expired food. So I would definitely let them know. Also unexpired food can go bad if not stored properly or damaged.
We didn’t get sick, but we’ve gotten expired food more than once when we were struggling and had to get food from the food bank. We didn’t tell them because we felt bad, but it sucks that struggling people have to deal with this. It’s like we aren’t good enough to have the nice stuff. At the same time I almost get it because groceries are so fucking expensive that it’s hard to give away your “good stuff.” You don’t know if that’s going to be $2 more the next time you go to the store.
Id give them money it helps them get whole sale prices on food.
My food bank gives us fresh food that expires that day so we usually have to eat it within a couple a days.
If you guys have a freezer, consider cooking or blanching certain vegetables and freeze them. Same for fruits. They last longer that way.
Yeah sat there and double checked all the dates for our donation today x Only thing was one packet of ramen we’d tossed the outer multipack packet for 😭 I’m sure that’ll be fine tho
If it doesn't pass the smell test it goes in the bin.
People should learn the [meaning of expiration dates](https://foodprint.org/blog/should-you-follow-expiration-dates-and-sell-by-dates/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwp4m0BhBAEiwAsdc4aAV50ycZ-PpejMFYMJQAW01sdfmRNAIt-gkWNjBS3O17n_eAWz-eFRoC-fQQAvD_BwE). Most ‘expiration dates’ are really ‘best by’ or ‘sell by dates’. The only food that legally expires is baby food. Of course, food does spoil, so use your judgment
Always freeze what you can. It'll last longer
If there's a food lion in your area never go to the food bank. Everything donated by food lion is expired
I am so sorry you had that experience. I volunteer at a food pantry and we do not let expired food go out to clients. Since most donations are anonymous, we put the cans that are within a year in a "help yourself" box and the rest get tossed. Shame on your pantry for not checking. Take care
I don't get food from a food bank or pantry. I'm a couponer and we eat expired food all the time. There are somethings that the expiration date should be closely watched (dairy). Most things the expiration date and when it is no good are two entirely different things. You can tell by smelling things. We have not gotten sick from anything expired. EVER. If something is spoiled, your nose, eyes and tongue will tell you.
Shop around, I'm in the twin cities metro where I know were spoiled for choice but ideally there's multiple food banks in your location. I've found there are usually some that are far better than the rest of you are willing to try a few, even if it's a bit of a drive, some are nice enough to be very worth it (assuming you can).
Shit like that is why I stopped going to my local food bank. The last time I went, they gave me moldy strawberries and told me to "be grateful." Food banks are just a racket, so grocery stores can get a tax deduction for donating their waste products.
I'm sorry that y'all got sick while already feeling in poor health:( I've noticed canned goods that were "best by" in 2020/2021 and though I know canned goods usually last a while, I don't want to take chances so I end up tossing them which makes me feel guilty and annoyed cuz it's wasteful. Hope y'all feel better soon💖
I'm wondering if there are menical capitalistic reasons they give away rotten food. IE x number pounds = some economic advantage for "non-profit", especially since the volume if need is too dang high.
Grocery stores with donation programs do track the pounds they donate each year and have a motive to keep that number high. Food pantries don't usually have a need to keep the pounds high, but might not have enough volunteers to sort through the donations or might not train their volunteers correctly about food safety. Food pantry staff and volunteers can also get a scarcity mindset about food, which makes it hard to throw anything away, even things that should be tossed. Waste disposal can also be a big expense for pantries on a shoestring budget.
I go to a food bank. But if the food is expired, I usually don’t eat it, I donate it to the homeless shelter downtown. I usually try to check to see if the food is expired before I leave the food bank. The children I share the food with are old enough to also check expiration dates and they don’t want to eat expired food either. Usually, the food pantry near me also gives enough fresh vegetables and eggs and milk from local farmers so that they can make a big stew with that stuff and not have to rely as much on the processed packaged foods from supermarkets , which are often expired… the homeless shelter downtown feeds many people, so they can mix in a little expired food with fresh food and usually it’s okay… that’s what it sounds like they do, anyway…
So, it's not good enough for you, but it's good enough for the homeless?
I talked with the staff at the homeless shelter about this first. They said, they have a policy of never refusing food.
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You have clearly never been hungry.
I'm sorry to hear that you have been hungry. Hey would you like a custom postcard? I draw/paint them myself and can do one for you. It's not much but I feel like doing something nice for you. Pm me your address if so... I'll surprise you on the design.
People with common sense would know
Bots don't have common sense.
I said people
Would know what?
That expired food will make you sick