Special Report: Old and Sold

With money so tight these days, it's important you get what you pay for. So when you check prices at the grocery store, be sure to also check expiration dates!

Amy Podolsky, Bought expired food
"I needed tomato sauce; I went to the store, there was one jar left, and I grabbed it."

What Amy Podolsky didn't do was check the sell by date, and she got burned!

Amy Podolsky, Bought expired food
"When I got home I realized it was expired, and it was frustrating because then I couldn't use it and had to throw it out."

And she's not the only one who found outdated stuff on store shelves, 7News went shopping!

At one popular supermarket chain we find boxes of gelatin and pie filling nearly 7 months past the "use by" date.  The same thing at another store where we find an entire shelf of boxed potatoes nearly four months past the sell by date.  When we alerted a clerk, all of the items were pulled.  At a different store, cans of soup dated back to 2006!

Shopper
"It's very scary, very scary."

In another supermarket, packages of cheese months past their sell by date and one even has mold.

Shopper
"It makes me feel cheated. It's unfair."

Shopper
"I think the supermarkets should be more responsible and check through the foods."

Matt Lorch, 7News
"So who is responsible for making sure your grocery items aren't expired? The supermarkets are responsible for regular checks of all items and local health departments are required to inspect supermarkets twice a year. Fines can be issued for expired products still on the shelf."

Melanie Pearsoll, Nutritionist, MassGeneral Hospital
"If it says expiration date, that's a very clear labeling term for do not use after this date."

Especially scary are products like medicines and baby food and we found some of both well past their prime. Federal law says baby food must have an expiration date because over time it can lose its nutrients. We found jars of expired baby food and one jar as old as 2007.

Melanie Pearsoll, Nutritionist, MassGeneral Hospital
"If you check baby food or baby formula and it's passed the expiration date, you shouldn't use it. You shouldn't use it at all."

We also found kids cold medicine that expired months ago and cold medicine expired in 2007. The best advice for shoppers: Be diligent and check the date!  If you find an out of date item alert the grocery store and if you do buy something expired return it for a full refund.

Amy says she learned her lesson and the first thing she does now is go right for the date.

Amy Podolsky, Bought expired food
"Now I always check everything. I check it in the supermarket and then I double check it when I get home."

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