A photo of more than $100 worth of beef eye fillet left on a random supermarket shelf is Exhibit A for how one careless decision can turn perfectly usable food into instant waste.
When a refrigerated item is abandoned in the wrong aisle, store workers often have little choice but to throw it away.
Here's what to know
Writing on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, a Reddit user laid out what they thought was a baffling decision by someone to leave an expensive amount of meat on a Foldable Wheelchair box.
"Refrigerated section is one aisle over less than 20m away," they noted. "No conceivable reason other than sheer laziness or malicious intent."
They noted they let staff know. Replies to the sighting featured outrage and confusion over the behavior.
One Redditor said the pattern of behavior was all too common: "WHYYY are people like this? The amount of ice cream I've seen lingering outside of the freezer at grocery stores is astounding. This is another level."
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Another Reddit user, who said they had previously worked in a meat department, said this example was "not the worst thing I've seen." They also gave examples that included meat being left "all over the store," and people poking holes in packages before putting it back.
"And the inverse, refrigerated items stuck into the freezer aisles," another user mentioned. "People would rather ruin perfectly good food than walk over to the other section of the store."
More background
Several other commenters shared similar experiences or theories about why people do this.
"I worked at a grocery store for 8 years," a user said. "Whoever left that there was going to steal it but got cold feet."
A separate poster described a separate situation in which a store owner reviewed security footage, recognized a shopper, and called her to pay for items she had left in a freezer.
Commenters noted this sort of behavior doesn't just impact the specific piece of meat.
"And we have to pay more for meat because these situations go into their cost," a user reacted.
Others noted that some customers assumed store employees could be counted on to return items to their proper place. Redditors who worked at grocery stores noted that it was far from that simple.
"We don't know how long it's been there," a commenter said. "It goes to the trash."
What can be done?
While it's impossible to control how other people behave, the original poster did the right thing by flagging the issue to store employees. Returning items can also work, but if there's any ambiguity about how long something has been out, it's best to let the store decide.
"I'd be okay if stores were allowed to charge people for refrigerated/frozen items put on shelves," a highly upvoted post suggested.
Commenters especially felt like the behavior was wasteful because it involved an animal product.
"That's one animal gone to waste, three families that could have been fed... all because some bum couldn't put the items back where he got them," a commenter lamented.
Where can I learn more?
The frustration over this abandoned beef reflects a broader problem: food waste in grocery stores. Similar scenes have turned up at supermarkets and big-box retailers, where discarded meat and other products have shocked both shoppers and employees.
• Outside a supermarket, workers found an unthinkably wasteful scene involving discarded meat.
• Outside Target, a shopper photographed supposedly wasted food found near the store.
• A shopper shared a shocking photo of tiny cashew portions on grocery shelves.
Stories like these help explain why commenters were so upset to see a pricey cut of beef left out to spoil. They also show how one careless moment in a store can add to a much bigger food-waste problem.
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