Grocery Items to Avoid, According to Food Safety Pros

Stay safe at the supermarket.

Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner is a writer and recipe developer. She's a regular contributor to The New York Times, Time Out New York, Forbes, and many more publications. She also writes the food newsletter, Specialty.

Grocery shopping is generally one of the safest activities you can do, but being informed about food safety is always helpful when loading up your cart. See a suspect deli selection or damaged can on sale for a price too good to pass up? You may be better off not saving the extra money for safety reasons.Luckily, the U.S. has plenty of rules and regulations in place to ensure grocery stores should be keeping consumer safety at the forefront, and the telltale warning signs of a less-than-safe supermarket can be obvious.“Look for an unkept store appearance,” says Brue Ferree, Food Safety Consultant, Insight Food Safety Consulting, and member of the Food Safety & Quality Management Division at the Institute of Food Technologists. “Cleanliness and neatness of the store indicate a lot about the management style and focus.” Unsure if a store is clean enough to make the cut? A discount area where a store sells products past the expiration date, or in damaged containers, might indicate that a store is more interested in sales than safety, Ferree warns. A store that also sells non-food and food items in the same section is also likely not super legit.The good news? Most grocery stores want to sell you well-priced, safe, nutritious, and delicious foods to keep customers coming back and filling their carts. “The food industry works every day to provide consumers with safe and wholesome foods,” Ferree assures. “The regulatory oversight is managed by risk… Learning the risks and then balancing your ability to manage those risks is what keeps the food safe at and after purchase.”

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Know the seven grocery items to avoid and you’ll be good to go:

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Packaged food is packaged a certain way for a reason, and if that packaging is damaged, pass. “Do not buy food with damaged packaging,” says Lauren Twigge, MCN, RDN, LD. “Grocery stores have food transported to them from all over the country. If the chip bag has a hole in it, the milk seal is leaking, or the can is very dented, pick another item off the shelf.” Don’t be tempted by discounted damaged goods, which could be stale, spoiled, or worse.

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“At well-kept establishments, most food in the hot bar or communal food options are safe to consume,” says Twigge. “However, when not managed properly, these hot bars can be risky. Food that is not held at the proper temperature is the most common source of foodborne illness, and this will be your risk of eating at hot bars.” Hot food should be hot, cold food should be cold, and each should be in separate sections for their respective temperature. If the temperature of the food is questionable (room temperature salads and soups, for example), do not purchase or consume it. If you’re planning on grabbing a meal from a hot bar, Twigge recommends getting there early, which helps ensure you’re getting the freshest food, not items that have been sitting out for a while.

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At the supermarket, you should only be buying pasteurized dairy products. “While it is still illegal in some states, raw milk has been popularized by social media, and can now be found in certain retail stores across the United States,” explains Twigge. “Raw milk can harbor harmful bacteria that can cause serious foodborne illness, and can make it unsafe to consume.” Pasteurization is a simple heat-treated process that ensures the milk you buy at the store is safe to drink by eliminating harmful germs in milk. Pasteurization also severely reduces the risk of illnesses and diseases, such as salmonella, listeria and more, without reducing any of the nutrients, and actually improving product quality and taste.

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If meat, produce, or bread doesn’t look its best, don’t buy it. “Check for physical signs of food safety concerns, such as mold on fruit or bread, graying of meat, or other odd coloring or smells that are coming from food,” says Twigge. “These are all signs of spoilage, and that food should not be purchased or consumed.” For both packaged and fresh meats, only buy meat that looks brightly colored, has no areas of gray meat, and is free of any foul odor. “Ensure that the packaging for the meat is intact with no tears, bubbles, or leaks, as this can indicate damage to the packaging,” Twigge says. And take note of those working in the supermarket, too. Employees handling fresh meat or deli meat should be wearing disposable gloves, to prevent cross-contamination.

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A perfectly undented can is your best bet, but some dents are not off-limits. The USDA says that if a canned good has a very small dent with no other physical signs of damage, the product should still be safe to consume. “You want to avoid very large dents, or ones that you can lay your finger into,” says Twigge. “Especially avoid these cans if the dent has sharp edges, or occurred along the seam of the canned goods, as this could compromise the safety of the food.”

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If that pint of ice cream, box of fish sticks, or package of breakfast sandwiches you have your eye on is coated in frost, skip it (and probably this store’s freezer section altogether). “Frost buildup on the inside of cold displays indicates that a door is not sealing, and the temperature may not be maintained properly,” says Ferree. Overstocked freezer and refrigerators can also be a sign of strained cooling units, which inhibits circulation and makes the food not cold enough. “Many stores also now have very visible thermometers in cold and refrigerated display units,” Ferree says. “Check those temperatures. Refrigerated [cases] should be less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit, while frozen [cases] should be near 0 degrees Fahrenheit.”

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Sure, those pineapple chunks or watermelon cubes in your grocery store’s produce department may be appealing because that means no slicing and dicing for you, but pre-cut produce can also be a breeding ground for harmful bacteria that may make you sick. This is especially true if the person cutting the produce isn’t using new or clean utensils to slice into each fruit or vegetable. If one piece has harmful bacteria on it, it can easily spread to any other pieces that were also touched by the same knife or cutting board. You’re much better off taking your fruit and veggies home, washing them yourself, and slicing them when you’re ready to eat them or cook with them.