Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Just because the expiration date on a food product is close doesn’t mean the product will go off.
It’s common for us to watch Canadians pass by the reduced cart at the grocery store.
We’ve seen people forgo a dairy product that is marketed 50% off and will bypass it for new stock.
Today I want to share what we’ve learned over the years about the expiration date of food products.
You might be shocked to learn what we’ve learned and how it has helped us get ahead of our grocery budget.
Food Expiration Dates Are Often Overlooked
I don’t know about you, but I don’t often see people examine the expiration date on every product they put into their shopping cart.
We’ve noticed plenty of people who don’t even look at what they buy until they get home when they might see a problem.
Sure, they can return the product with a receipt, but that’s just an extra trip and wasted petrol.
Most people would waste the product instead of returning it.
Another option is to call the grocery store and tell customer service about the problem.
Let the customer service rep know you won’t return the product until your next grocery trip.
The answer will only be a yes, fine, or a no; it has to be back in seven to twelve days.
What Is An Expiration Date?
The expiration date is also called many names, as described below, but they all mean the same thing.
- Expiry Date
- Best Before Date
- Use By Date
- Exp Date
- Meilleur Avant is French for Best Before
The expiry date is when the product needs to be moved off the shelf more than consumed.
Manufacturers add a best-before date at least a week before you need to throw it out.
Likely they trust that the grocery store has quality, fresh products that fall within a specific expiration date for consumers, especially if they are paying the premium price.
When you hand over the money, you expect the best return for your purchase.
I also know some people who wouldn’t dare put a product in their grocery cart without looking for the expiration date.
These consumers won’t pay the total price for something expiring in a few days.
Many consumers won’t even dare buy products close to or on the expiration date, regardless of price.
A “best-before” date, also known as a durable life date, tells you when the durable life period of prepackaged food ends.
Durable life means the anticipated amount of time that an unopened food product, when stored under appropriate conditions, will retain its: Freshness, Taste, Nutritional Value or any other qualities claimed by the manufacturer.
This information is usually found on the label with the words “best before” and “meilleur avant”.
Inspection Canada – Date Labelling On Pre-Packaged Foods
Who Buys Products That Fall On The Expiration Date?
Lots of people understand that the product is still good and that it will save them money.
That’s us!
The reality is that some products with food expiration dates outlive that code, as I mentioned above.
I’m sure the manufacturer creates it to give themselves room to pick products from the shelves before they go off and the customer sees them.
Products With No Expiration Date
Not every product has an expiration date because the product might last forever or have a wildly long shelf life.
From my understanding, the shelf-life is over 90 days, so the expiration date is unnecessary.
The best-before date by code can be anywhere on the package, so look around it.
However, be aware that if the product is past the durable life date, you may lose some nutritional value, but you can still purchase it.
Expiration Date And Product Safety
The best-before date also has nothing to do with “product safety,” so be aware.
A post about date labeling on pre-packaged food by the Canada Food Inspection Agency explains why.
“Best before” dates must appear on pre-packaged foods that keep fresh for 90 days or less.
Foods with an anticipated shelf life over 90 days must not be labelled with a “best before” date or storage information.
- After the expiry date, the food may not have the same nutrient content declared on the label.
- Food should not be eaten if the expiration date has passed. They should be discarded.
Food expiration guidelines are imperative to any grocery store that must adhere to them.
Even the grocery store knows that, so you see reduced stickers to help move the product out the door.
I know that grocery stores cannot sell an expired product, not even at a discounted price; that’s what one manager told me.
You will even see reduced products on pet food, although I’d likely not purchase near expired dog food or other pet food because we don’t know if it’s good. Still, any vet would steer you away.
I wouldn’t bother trying to donate expired food either because most places won’t accept it.
There’s a difference between near-expiry and expired, so keep that in mind when purchasing and donating products.
Product Loss Due To Expiration Date
The grocery store doesn’t want to lose money by throwing the food in the dumpster or sending it off to the farmers for feed if they don’t have to.
Dumpster diving for food does happen in Canada. Even though you can’t go on private property, that still doesn’t stop some people.
Although I’d never do it, these people know most of the food is still good to eat according to the expiration date, and it’s a shame that it has to get thrown away.
What’s better than being reduced to them is free; if they can get it, they will.
Whether the stores recoup a percentage of the loss, I don’t know, as it depends on the product and the supplier.
I know they likely would make more money if the customer purchased the near-expired product at a discounted price.
What To Look For When Searching For an Expiration Date
We’ve often bought reduced items close to the expiration date without issue.
It got to the point where we knew what products would get reduced. There was no way we’d pay the total price, let alone the sale price, when we knew we could get it for dirt cheap.
An excellent example is dairy, meat, bakery, and produce, which we always look for at a reduced cost.
Yogurt seems to be one of the most accessible products, along with organic dairy products, that sell at a deep discount before the expiration date.
We’ve bought yogurt with a pink sticker that has lasted two weeks in the refrigerator.
When Zellers was open a few years ago, they had a frozen food and dairy section that didn’t sell well.
The amount of discounted food we picked up from there was huge and drew us back often.
Because of the expiry date, you could almost count on going in daily to find milk, cream, cheese, and yogurt with a considerable discount.
We can honestly say we’ve never had any problems with a reduced product before, and if we could freeze it, we would.
Remember that the manufacturers give leeway to the expiry dates, so we get an extra week or two in the refrigerator.
I’m guessing this is for them to ensure the grocery store has time to reduce or remove the product.
Expiration Date On Bread
Bread is another item we hardly, if ever, buy at total price or sale price because some of the grocery stores have bread on a reduced rack daily, such as the Loblaws stores.
There’s nothing wrong with the bread except it’s close to an expiration date, and we freeze it.
We’ve never had a problem with reduced bread, although I’ve started making my bread here and there.
There was a time when paying $0.25 a loaf after the sale price, discounts, and coupons were great for stockpiling.
Now we range in the $1.00 plus for discounted bread items on the reduced rack.
We’ve talked about blowout sales, and that’s another reason you may see that the expiration date is near and the price is so low it’s hard to resist.
Ask For Discounted Price Help
A fan told me the other day that she wanted to make banana bread, but the bananas at the grocery store weren’t yellow enough.
If you don’t ask, you won’t know, so don’t be shy to ask the produce clerk if they have any ripe bananas in the back for a discounted price.
They always do, and you can score a great deal, just like anything on the reduced produce racks.
You won’t find an expiration date on unpackaged fruits and vegetables.
Instead, you know visually, and from touching and smelling the product, how much life it might have left.
My father-in-law, whose parents owned a farm, said rotten fruits and vegetables would go to the farm animals because no one would buy them.
He said there used to be fruit that would fall from the tree and have a bruise, but nothing would be wrong with them.
He would use his knife to cut out the bruise, but the product was perfect.
These days people will raid the reduced rack to grab a deal, especially if money is tight.
Flashfood App Is A Must For All Canadians
The new Flashfood App is a fantastic mobile phone app where Canadians can find discounted food 50-75% off at participating Loblaws stores.
Once you sign up for the app and make your first purchase, the app will reward you with cashback.
We check the app daily as stores such as Zehrs and No Frills in our area add products daily.
Flashfood is the best app for food savings.
Eating Healthy On A Budget
Some people base their weekly meal plan around what’s on the reduced rack, discounted products on shelves, and in bunkers.
We are known to grocery shop like this, even with a meal plan and shopping list.
It’s easy to change meals as you shop based on the in-store unadvertised deals you find.
I’m not afraid to buy something close to the expiration date or reduce the price depending on the product.
You may often only find one lousy item in the bag, and the rest are excellent.
On a reduced rack, we often see apples, lemons, bananas, cucumbers, peppers, avocados, cauliflower, etc.
Make a list of your favorite fruits and vegetables and a recipe you can make with reduced product.
If you know what you can make with cauliflower, you won’t have to think about it when you see it on the reduced rack.
Ask yourself if buying that reduced cauliflower is worth and find out the current price.
Food Waste Is A Big Deal In Canada
Food waste in Canada is a big deal, and we know it happens at every grocery store, restaurant, and in Canadian homes.
Why splash out your dollars on excellent food if you can clean, chop, freeze, or cook it up for a fraction of the cost?
Do Expiration Dates Matter To Us?
Sure, because without them, we wouldn’t know if we can ask for a further deal or how much life there might be in the product.
The reality is they are there for a reason.
If you are worried about buying a product close to the expiration date, don’t buy it.
I don’t know any grocery store that wouldn’t refund your money, and we haven’t had any issues with products that we bought close to the expiry date regarding our health or being inedible.
Related: Why you always need to ask for your grocery receipt
Everyone has reasons why they wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a product close to the expiration date and others why they wouldn’t bother.
Money is tight for many Canadians, and the grocery budget is great to save some of that money if you can.
Spend What You Can Afford Even If You Can Afford More
Living below your means may be the untold secret to some, but many millionaires live and swear by spending only what they can afford to lose.
Our dentist, who has owned his practice for over 25 years old, my wife once said that even though he’s a millionaire, he still shops at Food Basics and Walmart and looks for deals.
Smart guy, sure, and it’s true we’ve bumped into him many times.
Hard work is a given, but spending your money wisely and in a way that compliments your lifestyle is vital to financial health.
It doesn’t mean you have to compromise on nutrition. It simply means keeping your eyes open for food deals that will save you cash.
It also means finding ways to save money to spend more on items that never go on sale.
Discussion: Do expiration dates on products matter to you, and why? Please leave your comments below.
Thanks for stopping by and reading Canadian Budget Binder.
Mr. CBB
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