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Forum -> Judaism -> Halachic Questions and Discussions
Store selling expired goods.
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amother
Coffee


 

Post Sun, Feb 28 2021, 8:09 pm
There used to be a supermarket in my area that also had their own in-house bakery and small takeout. The food was pretty bad.
I realized why. The owner would take all the food that was about to spoil, or that was just past the expiry and use those ingredient for the cakes and takeout food. I dont remember how I found out about it, but when I did, it made sense why the food never tasted good. The grocery has has since closed down.
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Sun, Feb 28 2021, 8:14 pm
In the US it is illegal to sell expired goods no matter if it would make you sick or not. Not only that but it’s a per item violation. So if an inspector comes in and sees 50 packs of expired potato chips they would get the fine multiplied by 50. I once tried to return an expired item and the shop owner was giving me a hard time. When I reminded him of this law he practically tripped over his feet to refund me. I would not have informed on him but it’s a chutzpah. Removing expiry dates whether illegal or not is ethically wrong.
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amother
Chartreuse


 

Post Sun, Feb 28 2021, 9:12 pm
I once asked the cashier of a big supermarket if they could discount my greek yogurt bars because they had yesterday's date on them. She called the manager. The manager said she would be happy to discount them but unfortunately could not do so because the law prevented her from selling them at all, a day past expiration. And this was not even a jewish store. I would def get a rav involved and figure out what to do. I would also be concerned with kashrus. How can you trust someone with kashrus who doesnt have the yirat shamayim not to cheat people?
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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Mar 01 2021, 5:52 am
Sprinkles1 wrote:
Quote:
Perhaps it would have been pertinent to mention that where I live, it IS illegal to sell out of date products.


I imagine there is a difference between selling perishable items (dairy...) past the date, and selling chips or chocolate, no?


According to the law, it is illegal to sell either perishable items OR non-perishable items such as chips or chocolate past the expiry date.

I realise that chips are probably fine for a time after the date on the pack but these were so spoiled they were inedible. I also know that even in that case, they probably wouldn't make someone sick, but the store sells other things that WOULD make you sick if eaten after the expiry date. Since I have witnessed first hand a number of different items with the dates deliberatley erased, there will surely be others too.

I would be interested to hear a halachic perspective on this but don't feel I can speak to my LOR as he is a close friend of the shop owner and seems to respect him.
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Mon, Mar 01 2021, 6:37 am
It's most definitely asur. Someone who buys it and would not buy expired food has full recourse to get their money back according to halacha. It's deliberately misleading. For one:
https://www.chabad.org/library.....n.htm
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watergirl




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 01 2021, 6:41 am
amother [ Chartreuse ] wrote:
I once asked the cashier of a big supermarket if they could discount my greek yogurt bars because they had yesterday's date on them. She called the manager. The manager said she would be happy to discount them but unfortunately could not do so because the law prevented her from selling them at all, a day past expiration. And this was not even a jewish store. I would def get a rav involved and figure out what to do. I would also be concerned with kashrus. How can you trust someone with kashrus who doesnt have the yirat shamayim not to cheat people?

This. This is not a kosher store. Is it under a hashgacha by any chance? I would (and have) report this to the vaad who oversees it if there is one. Or to the rav otherwise.
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Mar 02 2021, 5:17 am
watergirl wrote:
This. This is not a kosher store. Is it under a hashgacha by any chance? I would (and have) report this to the vaad who oversees it if there is one. Or to the rav otherwise.


No, it's just a grocery store that sells predominantly imported goods. The few items produced locally are each under their own supervision, nothing to do with the shop owner.

watergirl wrote:
It's most definitely asur. Someone who buys it and would not buy expired food has full recourse to get their money back according to halacha. It's deliberately misleading. For one:
https://www.chabad.org/library.....n.htm


Thank you for this interesting and useful link Smile

I can imagine that if I confronted the shop owner, he would deny that the good were expired. I imagine he would tell me the chips and chocolate were imported and never had dates on, even though I have undenyable evidence that the dates have been tampered with.

I just hope other people realise what's going on.
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chanchy123




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Mar 02 2021, 5:32 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
Thanks for the replies. I have to say I am surprised at some of the responses here!
Perhaps it would have been pertinent to mention that where I live, it IS illegal to sell out of date products.

I know best before dates are different but I thought use by and expiry dates are the same.

Of course this is an issur Torah of lo tonu.
He is taking good money for projects that he knows no one will buy (at least not at full price) and in a method that makes sure the buyer has no way to know the good are expired.
Knowing me, I would be too embarrassed to say anything - however, the right thing to do is to tell him that you know what he’s done and suggest that he refunds the buyers,
If it helps taking to the rav might be a good idea because he will be able to convey the message to his friend.
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chanchy123




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Mar 02 2021, 5:35 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
Thank you for this interesting and useful link Smile

I can imagine that if I confronted the shop owner, he would deny that the good were expired. I imagine he would tell me the chips and chocolate were imported and never had dates on, even though I have undenyable evidence that the dates have been tampered with.

I just hope other people realise what's going on.

The sad thing is that the person who sent you the MM payed a lot of money for imported goods packaged nicely especially for you and you weren’t able to enjoy them. She’s the real victim here, even if she has no idea,
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leaf




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Mar 02 2021, 12:49 pm
I would want ppl in the community to be aware of what is going on but without incrimating this particular store, perhaps by getting what you wrote here to be published as a letter to the editor in a local Jewish newspaper, without specifying the name of the store. Once ppl are aware of what is going on, they will start checking exp dates carefully and the store will be forced to change. Also, once the store sees your letter in the paper, I imagine they will already remove the expired items from the shelf, to prevent ppl from discovering that they are the problematic store, which would be very bad for business.
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