Expired Food and Your Friendly Local Supermarket

The Angry New Yorker blog recently posted on a litter box they found in a supermarket freezer. This is one of the many dangers of shopping at local, New York City supermarkets. Another: expired food. Every single locally-owned store that I have visited has expired food on their shelves. D'Agostino's 17th Street Market sold me frozen pizza four months past the expiration date. Now I understand why it was on sale! I once came across expired Lunchables as well. I guess that's what I get for trying to go cheapo for lunch. Since the mid-1990s, D'Agostino has shed stores at a rapid clip, from 26 stores in 1996 to 19 or 20 today. The onslaught from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods has been blamed, but my take: high prices and poor quality may be equally at fault.

Meanwhile, my local Foodtown (in Sunnyside) shares the same problem. With expired yogurt, mayonnaise, and fruit-fly fabulous tomatoes, the quality is definitely lacking. The Sunnyside Key Foods also doesn't seem to check the sell-by date. Both "super" markets boast higher prices, low-quality and packed aisles, yet the enormous Stop & Shop on Northern Boulevard is both roomy and empty. The logic of the local consumer escapes me: while Stop & Shop has the best prices around (and I should add, no expired food so far, knock on wood), the loyal consumer is at the other two Sunnyside stores. Does convenience trump quality? The lesson here: check the expiration date on all foods you buy in New York City supermarkets!