Just like any supermarket, Publix does everything in its power to ensure your purchases are fresh. But things happen, and sometimes you end up with food beyond its sell-by or expiration date. Knowing Publix’s expired food policy is handy in times like these.
Publix’s return and guarantee policy states that they will fully refund any unsatisfactory item. This guarantee extends to perishables such as food, even when you return it because of its expiration date.
If their return policy sounds generous to you – it is. Let’s examine the scope of Publix’s return policy and its application when it comes to expired and opened food.
Can You Return Opened Food to Publix?
Publix’s main guarantee stems from its founder’s philosophy of ensuring customers are happy. When Publix founder George Jenkins opened his first few stores, he enshrined the idea of giving a full refund to customers who aren’t completely happy with their purchase.
That philosophy is still practiced today and even extends to food. If you’ve opened your food for eating and find something wrong with it, you can take it back to the store for a refund.
Have you bought a sandwich in-store but the bread tastes stale, or maybe the tomato looks a bit off? Perhaps you purchased a bag of frozen green peas to enjoy with your steak dinner, but some pieces show signs of rot.
All you have to do is bring the problem item and the receipt, explain the problem to the employee, and they’ll issue a refund immediately.
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Does Publix Refund Partially-Eaten Food?
Although the store mentions its right to limit refunds in cases of abuse, there are plenty of stories regarding refund abuse circulating online. Some of them sound downright questionable, such as stories of people bringing in chicken bones for a refund on their roast chicken.
Various people in online forums describe stories of customers asking for refunds on food that’s already nearly finished. And even though it’s such a ridiculous predicament, the purported Publix employee has no choice but to issue a refund to fulfill their guarantee.
Without any proper confirmation, you must take these stories with a grain of salt. It’s possible that the store is granting a one-time-only refund to keep the customer happy.
They likely won’t be able to do it again, especially if the store notices a pattern of abuse.
Remember that your mileage may vary if you decide to test the extent of Publix’s return guarantee by bringing in partially-eaten food for a refund.
What Does Publix Do With Sealed Food Returns?
Sometimes, buying too many of your favorite products can clog your pantry. If you returned it to Publix for a refund, you probably assumed an employee would return your product to the shelves.
It’s a reasonable assumption, especially when there’s nothing wrong with the product.
As it turns out, that’s partially correct. A Publix spokesperson confirmed that they throw away any perishables returned to them regardless of the expiration date, but non-perishables go back to the store shelves.
Before you think that’s a massive food waste, hear us out: once a perishable product leaves the store premises, there’s no way of knowing if the customer stores it properly. It’s dangerous for Publix to resell perishables that can cause food-borne illnesses.
However, non-perishable items are a bit more secure when it comes to reselling. A Publix employee must confirm the product’s safety and quality first before returning an item to the shelf. Even if the safety risk to consumers is much lower, it’s not zero.
Don’t want to gamble whether your return will get discarded or not? Consider donating them to a food bank to help feed the needy and hungry.
Even Publix encourages its customers to do this instead of trying to ask for a refund.
What Does Publix Do With Unsold Food?
If some returned food gets thrown away even if they’re sealed, then what about food that Publix couldn’t sell? Do they throw those out too, even though they should still be safe to eat?
Thankfully, that isn’t the case. Publix is partnered with Feeding America so the store can donate its unsold perishable foods. Feeding America takes care of distributing donations to its network of food banks across the country.
Believe it or not, this program has actually been in place since 2007, but only at an in-store level. Each store saved and donated its unsold perishable food on its own.
It wasn’t until 2010 that the program became a company-wide cause.
Currently, there’s no indication whether returned non-perishable food is also included in the donations.
What Can You Do With Out-of-Date Food?
Can’t stand the thought of throwing away food even though it’s out-of-date? Whether for food waste or money-saving reasons, you have a few options to put your out-of-date food to use.
Use As Compost
At the end of the day, food is still organic matter – and that makes it perfect for compost. Add out-of-date perishable food to your compost pile and return the nutrients to your soil.
Just make sure they’re not moldy or anything that would endanger your soil instead.
Cook Them Anyway
This idea applies more to non-perishable foods; cooking rotten produce or meat should never be done. But for other food items, such as canned goods, going past the sell-by date isn’t as dangerous as you think.
USDA explains that shelf-stable food lasts for much longer than the sell-by date. Canned goods, for example, can last for years if not dented, pierced, or bulging. Dry goods like pasta are fine when appropriately stored; the same applies to frozen items.
The only downside is that the older they get, the higher their chance of getting stale. Frozen foods can also suffer from freezer burn, which affects the taste and texture. As long as they don’t taste “off,” they’re perfectly safe to eat.
Here’s a fun idea for you: why not challenge yourself to create a meal from out-of-date pantry items? Not only will it help you make room in the pantry, but it will also help you make something delicious.
Feed It to Livestock or Animals
As long as the food isn’t visibly moldy or rotten, you can feed expired food to animals. Their stomach can handle a bit more bacteria than us but don’t abuse that either.
Toss it out if it’s starting to bubble or smells quite bad.
But if it’s a bit of food that’s older than you’re comfortable with but still perfectly acceptable, consider feeding it to the animals instead. They’ll be able to enjoy the food’s nutrients.
Create Vegetable Stock
Have you ever tried creating your own vegetable stock? It’s pretty simple, and all you need are some vegetables – even wilted or bruised ones! Cut off any unsafe parts, such as rotting or moldy bits, and save the rest for your stock.
You can even do this with vegetable peels and any small tips you cut off at the end of vegetables. Keep a handful of them in the freezer until you have enough for a stock.
Can You Return Out-of-Date Food to Publix?
Publix’s flexible return policy allows you to return out-of-date food to Publix. So if you’re sitting on a few packages of food past their sell-by date, dig up your receipt and take them back to Publix.
But make sure you’re being reasonable about it as well. Just because they’re happy to refund you for severely out-of-date food doesn’t mean they’ll do it again if you keep abusing the system. In other words, try not to push your luck returning a five-year-old can of sardines.
Nevertheless, Publix will refund you if you need to return an out-of-date food purchase. Simply bring your receipt if you have it so you can get your cash back; otherwise, you’ll get your refund in the form of a gift card.
Final Thoughts
Publix wants to make sure its customers are happy, and they intend to uphold that with its generous refund policy.
That means accepting returns for food that are opened or out-of-date.
Of course, the store reserves the right to limit the number of refunds they issue to customers, especially if they’re clearly abusing the system. After all, no one benefits from a pared-down return policy.
But if you have a genuine return for expired food, bring it in-store. Publix will take care of you.
References
https://www.publix.com/pages/policies/refund-policy
https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2013/06/27/you-toss-food-wait-check-it-out