Workplace fills break room with snacks 2 years past their expiration date: 'Three of us tried eating something before checking dates. All of us regretted it'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 2, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Nobody wants to eat something that's gone bad. One time, I ate strawberries that were a little past their prime, and I paid the price for it almost immediately and had to leave school early. That memory is indelible in my body, and it happened over 15 years ago. You probably have a story of your own that goes like that. As soon as you took a bite, you regretted it, but it was too late. You're looking for somebody to blame, but ultimately you only have yourself. We as adults are in charge of the food we eat, and we have to pay the price for what goes wrong. That is, unless your workplace is the one that's providing the food. 

Then it's their fault. That's what happened in this story, where a workplace tried to do something nice for its employees that ended up backfiring and exposing their cheapness to the world. At work, there's not a ton of variance to get you through the mundanity of the day. Your work snacks might be the thing that gets you through the day.

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  •  You hope it's something good, and you hope that it makes you feel good. Because at the end of the day, that's all you have. But that's not what happened to these workers who, after they checked the date, realized that they had gotten got. Read on to see what happened and to see what commenters had to say about it.

  • 01
    Someone filled the snack basket in the break room...
    via u/kimmykat42
  • 02
    091 Cheetas Crunchy WTH PRINTED EATE 294217802 29 245 See facties later reation 150 กรา Doritos BAND ПАСНО CHEESE FUSED GUARANTA FRE UNTIL PUNTED DAILY 150 CALORIES FIR PKG Sign 150 RAN JORTED FRUIT The DDY INGREVENT Comment ENTO-LAXING NETT 0.37 22
    via u/kimmykat42
  • 03
    EESE! 3 BRAND GUARANTEED FRES UNTIL PRINTED DATE 26Sep2023 294217802 29 20.46
    via u/kimmykat42
  • 04
    SE VORED GUARANTEED FRESH UNTIL PRINTED DATE 24 CT2023 318835 05:01
    via u/kimmykat42
  • 05
    With snacks that have an expiration date from two years ago. Literally three of us tried eating something before checking dates. All of us regretted it. .
    via u/kimmykat42
  • 06
    . Open_Bug_4251 · 19h ago The person who filled our vending machine at work would always leave anything that was past the sell by date on the counter for whoever wanted it. But it was clear that's exactly what was going on. And it wasn't usually more than a week.
    via u/Open_Bug_4251
  • 07
    kitliasteele 18h ago . Yeah, huge difference between "We can't sell this product now because it's past the Sell By date. Feel free to take it home if you want" and "Here, have something that's two years beyond the Sell By, and we're making it a big deal. Don't mind that it tastes awful"
    via u/kitliasteele
  • 08
    Due-Caterpillar-20... 19h ago . Someone had old stuff in their snack drawer and "felt bad" about throwing it out
    via u/Due-Caterpillar-2097
  • 09
    • Odd_Consequence... 20h ago at first, i was like aww, there are goods in this world and then second and third pic i was like, nvm, fk these people
    via u/Odd_Consequence_1117
  • 10
    ProperPizza · 19h ago Here in the UK we have a place called Approved Foods that sells old, expired food. It's DIRT cheap. My boomer dad's crazy about it. He bought me some mouldy brownies...
    via u/ProperPizza
  • 11
    divo98 19h ago . Someone at my old work would always do this. Like, if you don't want expired food what would make you think we do?
    via u/divo98
  • 12
    MOJO HIGHWAY • Moj... 19h ago Edited 4h ago . You know...this is NOT how we sound grateful when we get a raise snacks in the break room meant to distract you from not getting a raise.
    via u/MojoHighway
  • 13
    ultratorrent • 19h ago Sunflower and safflower oils going rancid is kinda the worst.....
    via u/ultratorrent
  • 14
    OhTheHueManatee 19h ago • When I was in 3rd or 4th grade there was a table in lunch area that kids would put things they didn't want so other could have it. I put all kinds of bad things that looked fine on that table. The memory of me doing that just exploded in my mind cause of this post. God I was a little a hole. I hope that sort of thing isn't hereditary cause my son is now in school.
    via u/OhTheHueManatee
  • 15
    lilstinkerman40.19h ago How thoughtf...oh
    via u/lilstinkerman40
  • 16
    Due-Ad-1265 • 18h ago dude i accidentally ate a bag of expired cheetos and i cannot describe how bad they tasted. i'm not a puker or picky eater. i eat everything. those stupid cheetos almost made me puke on the spot.
    via u/Due-Ad-1265
  • 17
    brikouribrikouri • 18h ago @ ppl defending the best buy date- it's the principle of the thing cmon
    via u/brikouribrikouri
  • 18
    SilverRoseBlade 17h ago People do this at Food Donation places too. Like really you're giving away expired food you can't just throw out?
    via u/SilverRoseBlade
  • 19
    Flymphy 18h ago Break room roulette strikes again, hope you got hazard pay
    via u/Flymphy
  • 20
    broken_mononoke • 17h ago . gross. I hate when people do this. Especially with Halloween or other holiday candies. ETA someone brought in an OPENED Costco bag of utz pretzels and when I opened it I could smell they were old. I looked at the date... December 2022. Trying to kill someone???
    via u/broken_mononoke
  • 21
    helio2002pt • 15h ago . Oh nice bathroom break for everyone. For the rest of the day.
    via u/helio2002pt
  • 22
    Stock-Pea816714h ago To be honest that's a whole basket of bio engineered food with a sh ton of chemicals. It's prob still ok if it has been completely sealed. lol. Eat it.
    via u/Stock-Pea8167
  • 23
    duffleofstuff • 5h ago I've had this happen at my Job and have complained several times. There's like, a community 'free sh' table. It's fine when people leave things they just aren't using. Whole wheat spaghetti, some canned food, some clothes they've grown out of.
    via u/duffleofstuff
  • 24
    But some peeps leave tattered sh and expired food. And it me off r de as h_l. Brought some cereal home one day, should have checked the date. It was full of meal moths! Just running around in the bag and box. No holes in it or anything.
    via u/duffleofstuff
  • 25
    I was flabbergasted. Upset. Finally work put up like a flier and mentioned it in a meeting. The table isn't for your old expired food, broken stuff, holey clothes, etc.
    via u/duffleofstuff
  • 26
    ejrhonda79 17h ago Someone in management was clearing their cupboard at home and thought of you employees. You serfs should be grateful for the gourmet meals.
    via u/ejrhonda79

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boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working reddit story toxic-boss workplace reddit thread bad bosses Reddit toxic-work-environment
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