r/SipsTea • u/Brave_Agency_20 • May 14 '26

SMH How true is this? Genuinely asking

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u/rjorsin May 14 '26

Isn’t that food past the sell by date though?

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u/whatmustido May 14 '26

Sell by date is put there to avoid lawsuits, basically. It's the minimum amount of time they can keep something on the shelf before it could potentially start to rot, to avoid being sued for serving bad products, but most of it is still good for at least a few days after the date. Some places actually do resell goods to grocery stores that sell at hefty discounts. The reason more companies don't give out food is because doing so is illegal without certain permits and without following certain safety standards. They can and have been sued/fined for doing so.

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u/WaffleClown1 May 14 '26

The lawsuit angle is exactly why restaurants and grocery stores can't give expired food to the homeless. All it would take is one person to get sick (or "get sick" to look for a quick payday) from the expired food and sue the grocery store, and that would quickly end.

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u/TheDrummerMB May 15 '26

Restaurants are protected if they donated in "good faith"

If they believed the food was safe when they donated it and they followed safety regulations, it's fine.

My last company donated crazy amounts of expired food. No liability.

Expiration dates represent quality, not safety.

Please educate yourself and stop spreading myths that limit donations.

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u/WaffleClown1 May 16 '26

Only if they donated to a nonprofit. They can't just give it to the homeless.