Worked in a Kroger store way back in the day.
When disposing of expired bread, we had to cut the packaging open before throwing in dumpster.
I always assumed that was to prevent dumpster diving.
That is a waste. My Church works with a local Panera to take expired breads to the Catholic Charity for distribution. Yes, they are day old but still very edible.
Back in the day, the grocery chain here would set expired baked goods, produce and packaged items out on tables or pallets for anyone to take home for free. No meat or such. Of course, after years of doing this, the government stepped in and put a stop to it. They then started donating the bread to the senior center and the senior center would set out grocery baskets along the street for any and all to take. The government stepped in again and put a stop to it all. Talk about waste. Not once for all those years did I ever hear of anyone getting sick. I doubt they could have been sued (that was before anyone tought of suing over hot coffee) because there were no signs stating they were giving it away. Today, the same store never orders enough to keep the shelves fully stocked and there’s always shelves that are totally empty. I don’t know if that’s due to poor management or they don’t want excess that will be trashed or what. There was another store that would sell dented canned goods or cans that didn’t have labels which I can understand how that would be ripe for law suits.