A shopper was stunned to find a bottle of milk carelessly left on the canned goods shelf in their local grocery store. The shopper shared an image of the milk sitting on the wrong shelf in Reddit's r/mildlyinfuriating forum to highlight the unnecessary food waste.
Redditors were also frustrated by the milk bottle left on the shelf to waste.
"Yeah, that milk is trash now," wrote one user. "Years ago when my wife did a stint at a grocery store, almost any cooler or freezer stuff that was found outside the cooler or freezer was trash."
"People are lazy," commented another Redditor.
Food waste is one of the biggest challenges in the U.S., as the Food and Drug Administration estimates that 30-40% of America's food supply ends up as waste. When food gets discarded, it ends up rotting in landfills where it releases harmful, planet-warming gases.
In fact, food waste results in 18% of the total methane pollution in the U.S., per data from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Grocery stores across the U.S. have been caught carelessly wasting food products. Frustrated employees have shared images online of dumpsters filled with discarded food that had just reached its expiration date.
While some food items are not safe for consumption past their expiration date, other dry goods are still safe to eat after their "best buy" date, according to the Department of Agriculture.
To combat unnecessary food waste, some grocery stores have taken action to reduce the amount of food products that get tossed out. For example, when Trader Joe's experienced a massive power outage with their freezers, they gave away food items to customers who were already in the store, ensuring the food was safe to consume and wouldn't go to waste.
Another grocery store in Virginia discounts bruised produce to prevent the fruits and vegetables from getting thrown out.
Redditors continued to discuss their shock at the blatant disrespect of leaving the milk on the shelf.
"People just can't be bothered," wrote one user.
"At least put it back in the cold freezer section," responded another Redditor.
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