Donated Food that's Expired/Opened Food

United States
April 5, 2007 5:26pm CST
DONATED FOOD THAT'S EXPIRED Many times, food that is donated to the poor turns out to be expired. I want to know who's bright idea it was that expired food would be good enough for poor or homeless people. They can get sick, too! It started when I was checking a box of free food in the laundry room of the low income community I live in. The community is run by the government and is for "very, very low income" families. Someone must've known this and brought the box of free food. Since I live here and no one else was taking from the box, I checked two packages of mashed potatoes. They expired in 2005! These things could kill people! I know there will be people who will argue that beggars can't be choosers. This isn't a case of this. Some people who live here can't read expiration dates and may take those boxes of food and consume them. I don't mind if something is donated and a bit beaten up. I took a box of pasta that looked like it came from the loosing end of a fight. It wasn't opened or expired so I didn't mind. The point is, check the expiration dates before donating anything. You could get someone sick that already has problems with their bills. They don't need food poisoning, too. OPENED FOOD Another problem is opened food. As I was looking through the box, I noticed a jar of opened instant coffee. Obviously, I didn't take it. Its like asking me to take a drink of a coffee someone left near the curb. Its gross. I don't know who's used that or what they've done to it. People need new - not used - food. Please, if you're going to donate, make sure its food that's been unopened.
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