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Imagine, if you can, all the food your local grocery store has that is nearing the expiration date—that they know won’t sell before the food goes bad. Many stores will slash prices on nearly-expired items and put them in designated bargain bins, but most will end up as food waste. Wouldn’t it be beneficial for everyone to have a central place where those deals can be found not just by one store, but several in your area? That’s what Flashfood sets out to do.
What is Flashfood?
Flashfood is a free app where you can can get discounts up to 50% on common groceries that are nearing their best-before date, including fresh-food items like meat and produce. So far, Flashflood has partnered with grocery stores in the Midwest, the Northeast, Texas, Florida, and Canada. They have many participating locations.
How Flashfood works
Flashfood partners with grocery stores to help them sell their expiring food for cheap. Grocery stores list the items they need to get rid of, can shoppers search through those discounted products on the app. You can pay directly in the app using any major credit card, Visa debit card, or SNAP EBT card, and your local store will have a designated Flashfood zone for pickup.
If you’re curious how the app makes money, Flashfood told Food Navigator USA that they only make money when the grocery store makes money—it’s a fee-based business model that gives them a percentage of the store’s transaction for each purchase.
Is it safe to eat food that’s close to the expiration date?
Expiration dates are not to be taken all that seriously, as staff writer Lindsey Ellefson covered. The best tool to know if a product might not be safe to eat is your own senses: If it smells and looks bad, don’t eat it. Otherwise, here are some foods you can safely buy:
Canned foods are basically safe indefinitely, per Delish, but you want to store them in a temperature below 75 degrees, and you’ll probably enjoy eating them more within two to five years of purchase. One thing to keep in mind, though, is not to eat anything from a can that is bulging, as this is a warning sign that it could contain harmful toxins.Frozen foods are also good indefinitely, but their quality diminishes as time goes on. Largely, you have a few months to a year to eat these. This is a good example of when to check FoodKeeper.Eggs can usually be consumed for three to five weeks after you buy them, even if that time period passes the date printed on the carton.Stale bread is still safe bread, but don’t eat moldy slices (you can store it in the freezer so it stays fresh longer if you’re not going to consume it right away). This applies to cereal and chips, too: As long as you’re not munching mold and you can tolerate stale foods, don’t fret over these items’ expiration dates.Pasta is fine to eat and won’t be noticeably off even if you bought it two years ago, provided the box stayed closed in your cabinet. If you opened it, that time shrinks to about a year.Sugar never spoils. Do not worry about sugar.Peanut butter is fine to eat after its expiration date, especially if it’s unopened. If it’s opened, you’re dealing with a quality issue, but it’s not unsafe to eat.And here are some foods to be more careful with:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests you use or freeze your beef, veal, pork, and lamb products with a “sell-by” date within three to five days of purchase. Freezing is important: The USDA also notes that frozen foods are safe indefinitely, but should be used within a few months, depending what type of meat you have.Fresh fruits you didn’t freeze will last about a week, but some may stay fresh beyond that (even at room temperature, apples can last much longer, for example). You’ll know when they start to feel mushy, slimy, or otherwise look unappetizing. This basic guideline goes for leafy greens, too—give them more of a side-eye after a week, but some may last longer.
