: supermarkets sell tons of stuff, especially food, but I’m pretty sure that not all the food is bought before it expires, so what do they do with possibly tones of expired food?
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I imagine this varies by chain, state, location, etc. I work in a big chain store in a major city. When our food expires, we sort it. Things that are shelf stable (canned/boxed food), frozen/freezable (meat), or just a little rough looking (bruised apples, torn or dented packages) get donated to our local foodbank, who do pickups near-daily. Food that is deemed unfit for human consumption (way past expiration date, allowed to reach dangerous temps, moldy) are composted. Most food in packages tends to end up the trash if things are too busy in the store to otherwise sort it out, and anything that’s been recalled has to be put in the trash regardless of what it is.
We also try to mark down items before they expire to encourage them to sell faster, giving more time for items that move slower (a few months for shelf-stable, a few weeks for drinks/dressings, a few days for perishable).
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