Scratch and Dent Sales - for Groceries??

MSN featured an article today on going to scratch and dent grocery stores to get your non-perishable food - you can view the article here: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/cheapest-food-this-side-of-a-dumpster.aspx

Basically what these stores do is take the dented cans or items with damaged packaging, or items close to their sell-by date and resell them for literally pennies. When I first heard of this, I was skeptical. Like many of you, I thought that there must be something wrong with the food. Don't they tell you to avoid food with damaged packages or dents? Can't you get botulism that way?

The answer is yes, and no. According to the MSN article: "According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture fact sheet, beware of any can that is swollen, leaking, extensively rusted, has visible holes or punctures, or is crushed/dented badly enough "to prevent normal stacking or opening with a manual, wheel-type can opener."


So don't say we didn't warn you. But often the can or package in question is perfectly fine, even though is has a sizable dent, or even when it is difficult to open with a can opener. We here at Living Cheap have been doing this for years, so like we promised, we won't recommend anything we ourselves haven't tried!

Bill, Angela and I, in fact, get a lot of our food this way - through cast-offs from grocery stores and even the food bank! Angela in particular through the years has all the connections for finding these castoffs, much to the benefit of all of her friends and family (and random people on Freecycle). And speaking for Bill and I we have never encountered food that was compromised in any way in quality. For example, I made chicken parmesan yesterday using crushed tomatoes that came from a scratch and dent, and I regularly eat soup for lunch that comes from dented cans. Our kids love the canned fruit - and except when we make an effort to make a big meal we rarely have a breakfast or lunch that wasn't either free or bought for pennies on a quick-sale bin because of damaged packaging or an upcoming expiration date.

There are several directories online for finding your local scratch and dent grocery store, such as Anderson Country Market's site: http://www.andersonscountrymarket.net/directory or http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/discount-stores/97055-salvage-grocery-list-state.html  There aren't many outside of bigger cities, but the items are so inexpensive that it is worth bringing a big box and loading up whenever you make that trip to Dallas.

If you live in a city without one, the best strategy is to search the discount or quick sale bins at the grocery store or even drug stores. Ask the manager what they do with the dented cans and if they just throw them away, offer to take them off their hands. Don't be shy - in this economy if you don't ask someone else will!