Can a store that sells items that are expired be sued?

If it harms you, like getting some type of poisoning, I guess you could sue them.

Your local District Attorneys Office can give you a truthful answer. give them a call. generally, the expiration date is for the manufaturer, in order to know when to pull an item off the shelf. like, milk. its normally good for 10 days past its expiration date.

To be sure, call your local DA and ask this question.

If you become ill from a product, whether it’s within the “use by” date or not, then you have grounds for a suit. The nominal purpose of a lawsuit is to “recover damages”. So if you miss work, have to pay doctor / hospital bills, endure pain and suffering, then those are grounds for a lawsuit.

Date-coding items at retail came about because of the disagreements that would often arise between retailers and manufacturers each attempting to absolve themselves of responsibility for selling / providing “old” merchandise. Since the manufacturer codes with the production date (which often is hidden to the consumer) as well as a “sell by” or “use by” or “fresh until” date—visible to the consumer—then the retailer is responsible for maintaining “fresh” product on their own shelves. It’s not often that the manufacturer gets to stock the store shelves himself (although that does happen with some products, including many snack foods and soft drinks, for example).

In your case, eating “old” cookies might make them less appealing: they may be stale. It’s unlikely that they would be “unsafe” to consume, as long as the wrapper was intact. Some foods, such as meat, fresh vegetables, dairy and many medications, does have a limited “safe” shelf life, until it either changes form (sours, gets moldy, dried out, etc.) and could cause harm (or extreme revulsion) if consumed when not fresh.

But save a lawsuit for when you are actually harmed.

There are a few local stores that sell expired items at a large discount and many people use it.

@JustmeAman Really? Wow…That is interesting.I’ve never seen one personally.

So from my understanding it is not illegal for stores to sell expired foods, BUT if there is some type “damages” as @CyanoticWasp stated that then there would be grounds for a lawsuit.

And @CyanoticWasp I thought the whole codes the thing was also interesting so the real deal behind that was to say…Hey..don’t blame for it basically?

There is also no legal statements in this regard though either right who is liable but rather who has the final responsibility of the dates?

I believe it’s illegal to tamper with the product in order to fool the customer into thinking the food isn’t expired. Like changing the expiry date or hiding it.

Otherwise, I think this is a case of customer beware.

Some companies do use codes for their expiry dates but the codes are dates. It might not be so explicit, maybe just a string of numbers, but it isn’t exactly cryptic either and anyone should be able to decipher it.

The stores I mention advertise that the food is expired and people can shop there if they wish.

If you buy it after the expiration date, liability goes to you.

Caveat emptor.

If an item is on sale I always check expiration dates as that is usually why an item is on sale to liquidate old inventory. Either way if I wind up with an out of date item I just take it back and they will usually gladly switch it out. Never been denied and if I ever was, it surely would be my last visit to that store.

It’s illegal (in the UK) to sell food past it’s “Use by” date, but not a “Best before” date. So you need to check what kind of expiry date it has. Use By is generally reserved for meat and dairy produce, so I would think the cookies have a “Best Before”. All that means really, is if the cookies are stale you can’t sue anybody for them being sub-standard.

I don’t know how the law differs in the US but I suspect it’s similar.

I would say so, someone could get pretty sick from eating expired food. I mean people have been sued for stranger things before.

the store across the street sold me salad dressing that had expired over a year ago. I brought it back and checked… ALL of the bottles were that old. Last I checked, they still hadn’t pulled the old bottles from the shelf. Gross!

Caveat emptor.

Expiration dates on processed foods are generally quality related, not “this will kill you if you eat it.” The taste of the product diminishes. You’re entitled to a refund for the product if you bring it back to the store with the receipt. You cannot sue unless you can demonstrate that you’ve been harmed.

Milk usually goes sour a week after the exp. date ;P

You can file a lawsuit for anything, and then it’s up to the court to decide if it has merit or not. So if you bought an expired item at a store and then got sick from eating it, there is nothing to stop you from suing, you just aren’t guaranteed to win.

But I think the whole premise of your question is insane. A person buys a product without taking the extra one second to check the date- they’re putting down their money without caring about the quality and value. Then they take it home and eat it, still without checking the date. That leaves their health and safety totally in the hands of the company.

After that, if they get sick, they file a lawsuit because it was the company’s fault. In other words, taking no responsibility for their own money, health, or safety and demanding that the company be held responsible if something bad happens. Why would you allow yourself to buy and eat an expired product in the first place? And if checking a date is too much effort, then why is filing a lawsuit not too hard?

Lawsuits like this win all the time- after all, stores aren’t supposed to sell expired products. They are responsible for the food they’re selling. I think a refund makes a lot more sense than a lawsuit, though.

I haven’t read everyone else’s responses, so forgive me if I’m being redundant. I used to work at a grocery store so I have some knowledge of how this works. Yes, grocery stores are responsible for pulling outdated material, and sometimes product does get missed. Most dates are “overexaggerated” however, that is the product is still perfectly fine for a certain amount of time after the date. I guess one could sue a store based on getting sick off outdated material, but one would have to prove that they got sick off such a product. You can definitely return any such outdated goods, and grocery stores will take them back…
Hope this helps, I know it’s something like 6 months after you posted the question…:)

I find that, being in the retail business, that everything that a store sells, they are responsible for…Lets take into example, baby food…Lets say a mother is buying food for her newborn child…She is in a hurry to give her child nourishment… What if she went into the store, grabbed the formula of her choice and bought it…Later to find out that this formula expired over a year ago…Would she be responsible for this? I think not!!! Retailers have the responsibility to keep their items fresh for their consumers! A consumer does not legally have to look at dates… (FIFO) First in, First out. Retailers are required by law to adhere to these rules…Otherwise, you would have cases of salmonella poisoning all over the place… It is very sad that some of these retailers sell bad food, meds…baby food…In reality, a lawsuit can be filed for it!

Also, a big chain grocery store does have to provide quality food…Baby food is the most looked at by sterotech visitors<—-That is a government person who checks that things are going well with for rotation and dates as well as compliance with cleanliness…

I wanted to add in a question my boyfriend bought some pizza bagels from winn dixie and when he ate it that night he woke up throwing up so constipated, excuse me, and he had to go to the hospital the food turns out was expired and the doctors said he has food poisoning they prescribed him pills can we sue for that

Got receipt? Can definitely get money back.

I need to know what kind of lawyer I need for my 2 month old daughter…

Her father went to a local market to get Infant Formula. They sold him it and it was 5 months expired. We didn’t realize it and she ate it that day. She became very ill with vomiting and diarrhea. I had to take her to the ER as soon as I found the formula to be expired. I went back to where he bought it from and they tried to sell me the same expired formula. I said Ma’am this product is 5 months expired. she said oh no we cant sell you this. I said ma’am you did yesterday to my baby’s father and my daughter had already drank a few bottles of it. She refunded me for 4 cans instead of 3.
I called the health dept, similac office and a few laywers but I cant seem to find a lawyer to handle my case