Grocery Stores Selling Food After "Sell By" Dates

With the cost of groceries going up, you expect to get what you pay for, right? Sometimes you may not. Different grocery stores across the country have been reported to sell some foods past their "best if used by" or expiration dates.

After an Upstate viewer told Seven On Your Side that he saw it happening in a local grocery store, we investigated. After we looked into it, the store promised to make a change.

Shopper Tom Wayman sent us four emails he says he sent to Ingles Markets, saying he found food on shelves past the "sell by" date at its store in Boiling Springs. Each time he says he received a response that the company would address the issue.

We went to Ingles in Boiling Springs and bought three baby foods being sold past their "best if used by" dates: two Beech Nut cereals for babies a month past their "best if used by" dates and Earth's Best Tots Cereal Bars 3 days past their "best if used by" date.

Ingles sent us a statement saying, "We have procedures to check for expired product regularly and to communicate that information to all of our stores, but we sometimes miss items in stores that have tens of thousands of individual products. We'll increase our training and supervision at this store (and in all our stores) to try to do a better job and not miss anything in the future. Thank you for bringing this up."

But Ingles is not alone in this issue. There are different kinds of grocery stores all over the country that have been fined for selling expired food. The New Jersey Attorney General is suing Target and Wal-Mart, accusing stores in New Jersey of selling expired baby formula.

Clemson University's food safety expert, professor Paul Dawson, says dairy products are good about a week after their sell by date, ground beef 1-2 days, and poultry 3-5 days after its sell-by date. But eat it after that, Dawson said you could face "upset stomach, depending on the bacteria whether you'll have diarrhea or vomiting. In some cases you'll get a fever."

"Best if used by" dates on non-perishable foods, such as canned goods and cereals, are usually set up to a year or two after their made. Dawson says eating them after that date, you probably will not get sick. Said Dawson, "In most cases, it's not a safety issue. It's more of a quality issue and selling it for a lower price may be an option for the store."

It is not against state or federal law to sell food past "sell by" dates. The FDA only requires expiration dates on medicine and infant formula. Most grocery stores pull most food off shelves after sell by dates, but the state say its up to consumers to check the dates to be sure.

While some other states inspect grocery stores for selling expired food, the State of South Carolina does not. The Department of Environmental Control says it's up to shoppers to check dates and you should report it to the store. The State Agriculture Department says the state law does not cover "sell by" or expiration dates and says they indicate quality, not necessarily food safety.

So how can you protect your family? Check dates on food before you buy it. If you bought something past the "sell by" date, you can return it to the store for a refund. And tell the store manager so the items can be pulled from shelves.