My local grocery store often have buy one take one offer, and as to what I notice, the items are close to reaching their expiry date. If you are offered this, will you buy? I, I do. I always do, especially on chips and drinks. In fact, the buy-chips-get-free-drink combination is my favorite among the buy one take one it offers. Why do I buy? Because, for one, it is savings. Besides, if I know that I am going to consume it before the expiry date, then why not? How about you? I want to learn your opinion on this one.
Yes, I would buy some things, especially canned goods. Canned goods will last long before their expiry date and damaged cans can also be a great bargain. I also don't throw away spoiled foods right away because something like milk or sour cream can still be used in baked items. I would not take a chance with meats though. Especially since I read that supermarket butchers repackage the meat and use dye to camouflage the color of the meat. So, its probably already past its prime. I recall reading about a small market that opened and it sold only items that had expired or were near expiring. I don't see any of those stores around so I guess the concept has not caught on with most consumers.
On some items I do purchase them. Especially since I have two teenage boys who comsume mass quantities of food. But like I said it depends on what items are on sale. If we are talking about ground beef or chicken then I do buy it and put some of it in the freezer. If it is lunch meat then I do not buy it because to me that is cutting it to close. Especially when it comes to meat that we will not be freezing. Sometimes we will buy bread on sale but only if we know for sure we will be making french toast or grilled cheese. Bread tends to get moldy pretty quickly after the expiration date. On things like canned foods, we will buy a ton of them. They last alot longer than the actual expiration date. And as far as chips and cookies, they last about 1 or 2 days in my house so we will definetly take advantage of sales .
It really depends on what the item is. If it's something that normally on my shopping list, then yes I would buy it. If it's something close to the expiration date, then I will pass. I'm single so it will likely go to waste.
Good to know that I am not the only one who does this. I love buying in bargain, and this buy one take one thing is a steal! Aside from chips, I also purchase canned goods! Thanks APluckeyduck for mentioning that. You are correct, canned goods can go beyond their expiry date. But at home, we consume it at once since we are aware of the close expiry date, so the ones that have longer shelf life have to be put on hold. Also, I buy pasta in buy 1 take 1 offer. This too has long shelf life, and again, I may opt to cook it at once. What I won't buy are sugar, salt, oil, and probably vegetables. I am a slow user of these food products and it may reach the expiry date without me having a use of them yet.
Good point on pasta and other dried foods, but would definitely not pass up salt because in a pinch it can be used to melt ice on the steps. I wouldn't buy sugar because it gets hard after a while.
I just did recently as a matter of fact. I went to get some fresh mushrooms, and they had a few containers marked like 75% off - so I got them. I was planning on making some chicken marsala that day anyhow and would be using them up immediately. There wasn't really anything wrong with them, other than one of the mushrooms in the pack started to look a little bruised. It didn't matter anyhow because I would be slicing them all up and sauteing them.
If it's something I can freeze or dehydrate then yes. If it's canned or dried goods, then yes. Expiration dates are generally only there for quality purposes - i.e. the taste or the nutritional value of the food in question my diminish at some point after the sell-by-date, rather than health concerns.
All of the meat in my freezer is either reduced price because it's close to its expiry date, or on special offer. I never, ever buy full priced meat, so my answer is yes, I'll buy short dated products, as long as it's something I would buy anyway. It's also a good time to try new products, because if you've only paid a reduced price and you don't like it, there's no big deal.
I agree with others here: depending on what the item is, I'll buy it if it's close to the expiration date, especially if I know I'm going to use it (or freeze it) very quickly. Meat will keep for a ridiculously long time in a cold enough freezer. Milk that slips past its expiration date can be separated into cheese and whey for baking. Fresh vegetables are probably going to get used that day or the next or otherwise I won't bother buying them.
For me it depends on the type of food. If it's canned or dried or even frozen solid, I have no problems buying ones that are close to expiry. These types of food can last a very long time and even properly stored frozen seafood can last over a year in the refrigerator. Sugar and salt technically do not have a shelf life and apart from clumping together if not stored properly, they can be stored indefinitely.
I would buy most foods that are close to their expiration date at a discount, just not dairy. I have a fear and disgust of spoiled milk so I wouldn't mess around with aging dairy products. But I have bought cake mixes, baking mixes and canned goods marked down that were close to the expiration date. After Christmas, many stores want to get rid of all their unsold holiday baking mixes so I've paid 25 cents a box.
I have bought expired milk powder before. For my puppies and kittens. I did try a bit myself. Tasted alright. Smelled alright. Didn't give me the runs, too. Actually from what I have read, most shelf lives are shorter than the actual shelf life possible. So I would say, go by the old time-tested way of testing for bad food. If it smells good, tastes good and doesn't give you the runs, then it should be good.
I buy something that can be used immediately as you said. I generally avoid milk and meat products since they spoil very fast. Packaged food is fine with me.. but only if I am using them right away. Yesterday I bought some overripe bananas and made some banana bread with that. I usually buy things that are on my list and don't go overboard with discounted products.
If you know you will consume the item(s) before the expiration date, and the marked down item(s) is something you regularly by anyway, then sure, it's a good idea to buy it/them. However, if you are just buying the stuff because you can, then no. It's just a way to get you to spend more money. I wouldn't buy snacks or drinks because unless you consume it that day, you might find the snack to be stale. With a drink it kind of depends on what it is.
Yeah, I usually don't have a problem with buying discounted items if they are near the use-by date. Most of the food is safe to eat long after the labeling states. I think people are generally too fussy over the use-by labels.
No. Even with a castiron stomach I don't want to risk it. Some brands have products with expiry dates beyond what's stated, however other products tend to expire before their dates. I'd just as not purchase something I hope is good only to get home and find out that I chose poorly.
I have to say I would have to know what items it is before I actually say yes. I have to say with Bread, I wouldn't purchase it, because to my knowledge even when we purchase fresh, it starts to smell about a 4-5 days before its expiration date, in that scenario, I wouldn't. If it is something I know I will eat right away, then yes, I definitely would. I am a Chips type of woman so I know I would love that deal. I hardly see those deals here in my city, but I know there has to be some out there!
Most things are fine for a little while after the expiration date. As someone else said, the expiration date is often about freshness rather than safety: the product might not taste its best but there is nothing wrong with it necessarily. I do not buy a huge amount of tinned or dried goods. When I buy macaroni, I tend to use it up well before any of the expiration dates. However, most tinnned, dried and frozen goods will be perfectly safe for some time after the expiration date. With fresh goods (such as fruits and vegetables), you simply have to be sensible and check them before you buy. If in doubt, don't bother! It is a waste of money to buy things just to have to throw them in the bin, of course. To be honest, fresh goods can sometimes be spoiled even well before the "use before" date so you have to look anyway.
