Massachusetts Grocery Stores are Still Selling These Prohibited Food Items

One thing that annoys me is when I go grocery shopping and get home to find that I have expired items in my bags. That really burns my you know what because I know that I'll have to make another trip to exchange the item for the same or similar product that isn't expired. It's time wasted on something that should have been done correctly the first time around. Coming home with expired food items has happened to me numerous times over the past year.

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I do two methods of grocery shopping including in-store and pickup. If I grocery shop in-store and arrive home with expired items then I do put some of the blame on myself as I should have checked the expiration date before I checked out. However, there really isn't an excuse for this when opting for the pickup method. However, there is a bigger issue here.

Why are There So Many Expired Food Items on Grocery Store Shelves in Massachusetts? 

My question is why are there so many expired items on grocery store shelves to begin with? This issue isn't only in Berkshire County either. There was a consumer advisory article published by the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation reporting that 15 food sellers in Boston, Cambridge, and Quincy had an average of seven outdated items per store. These items included dairy products, meat, produce, pre-made sandwiches, and poultry to boot. Some of these items were outdated for several weeks. That's just unacceptable if you ask me.

The Sale of Outdated Perishable Food Items is Prohibited in Massachusetts

One thing that I didn't know that was included in the article is the fact that Massachusetts has "open-dating" regulations which means that the sale of perishable items is prohibited unless the retailer has written approval from the manufacturer that the product is still safe after the open-date. If this is the case, many grocery retailers aren't following it as expired food items are still on shelves. I can't tell you how many times I have ended up with expired milk and meat products. At least the stores cooperate with me when it comes to returning the items for a refund or swap out.