mileage man wrote:
I think this is a huge d!ck move, especially as the people going after this food, for the most part, really need it.
Blame the lawyers. I worked for a small, upscale grocery store all through high school (think Dean & Deluca, but a little more utilitarian). A friend's dad started the chain and we all worked there.
We used to throw out food all the time. One time I asked him why we didn't give it to the shelters and he said that most will not take expired food, even if it is just bread, desserts, etc - in other words, stuff that will not hurt you to eat after expiration. The ones that DID take the food wanted him to sign a waiver. Basically, he stopped doing it.
Now get this, people used to dive in his dumpster all the time. sh*t, we used to take food too, even though he said we couldn't. Instead of throwing it out, we would just toss it in a bag and take it to our cars. This was mostly chips, candy, etc. Stuff a teenager wants for free. I remember distinctly also getting Dr. Browns sodas, too. Most of the drinks went back to the distributor after they expired (juices, beer, wine, etc), but the Dr. Browns stayed with us for some reason, who knows. I used to drink the sh*t out of some expired Dr. Browns - even the Cel-Ray flavor.
One day the owner gets a letter from a local lawyer. The letter says that he is being sued by someone who got sick from eating spoiled food from his dumpster. I cannot remember the exact wording, but it was something to the effect of how the dumpster wasn't fully closed and the person took this to be a possible free sample situation. Total BS, but you know lawyers. Anyway, that is why so many stores toss the free stuff.
Lawyers.
