The back is the new front

[Fat Guy]

Inspired by a comment on the picky about produce topic . . . .

When supermarkets stock their shelves they do so using the FIFO system (first in, first out). That means new stuff is put at the back of the shelves and old stuff, which went in first, gets pushed to the front. In most modern supermarkets the dairy case is even stocked from behind -- the back opens right up onto a refrigerated stock room.

It's amazing, though: most people just grab what's up front, even though it can easily be a week older than what's in back. Me, I always go to the way back for milk, eggs, whatever. I check the dates as well, because there can be inconsistent distribution of the old and new stuff even towards the back. Just today I was looking at milk and the sell-by date in the back was a full seven days later than the sell-by date on the cartons in the front few rows.

Now I can see taking from the front over in the produce section if you happen to be in need of a ripe cantaloupe. But that's about the only thing I'll ever take from the front.

[SheenaGreena]

I always pick from the back (I learned that from my mother) and good thing I do, because I never knew about that FIFO system (ughh reminds me of my accounting class).

[Anna N]

I tend to pay attention to dairy but also to wrapped bread products - sliced sandwich bread, hamburger and hot dog buns - you can find wide ranges of best before dates in the bakery aisle so I will move a lot of bread to find the freshest.

[Kent Wang]

From Clerks:

RANDAL: Liar! Tell me there aren't customers that annoy the piss out of you on a daily basis.

DANTE: There aren't.

RANDAL: How can you lie like that? Why don't you vent? Vent your frustration. Come on, who pisses you off?

DANTE: (reluctantly) It's not really anyone per se, it's more of separate groupings.

RANDAL: Let's hear it.

DANTE: (pause) The milkmaids.

RANDAL: The milkmaids?

INSERT: MILK HANDLER

A WOMAN pulls out gallon after gallon, looking deep into the cooler for that perfect container of milk.

DANTE (O.C.): The women that go through every gallon of milk looking for a later date. As if somewhere-beyond all the other gallons-is a container of milk that won't go bad for like a decade.

[phaelon56]

I check the "sell by" date on all packaged perishables I buy. Some of the grocery stores in my area (the two most convenient to my house) have not upgraded to a "stock from behind" dairy case. Not to mention that.... having worked in retail for a number of years.... I know that some stock clerks don't routinely rotate older stock to the front as they're supposed to.

[MikeDriehorst]

Whenever I do the grocery shopping (usually, it's buying odds n ends we're low on), I nearly always get the milk and other items that can spoil from the back. Granted, we go through chocolate milk rather quickly, but have tossed out white milk here and there.

Guess I'm more sensitive because my youngest son seemed to be sensitive to even slightly spoiled milk (like a day of or one day past the date) when he was a toddler.

-- Mike

[Marmish]

I used to be a casual date checker, pulling from the front and giving the date a quick eyeball. Then I found some potato salad with a sell by date over a year old. When I took it to the guy at the Deli, he thought I was mistaken. But he double checked, and I was right. There were about a dozen containers with the same date. I now check everything very carefully.

[Kouign Aman]

We go thru dairy so fast, it doesnt matter if its the newest or oldest product on the shelf.

I'll buy the fruit/veg from anywhere in the stack, depending on whether its for use today or next Saturday.