A) Find the good dumpsters. Some grocery stores have ‘compost only’ dumpsters, and those are an absolute gold mine. Those ones will be full of food and only food.
B) Of course you need to wash everything thoroughly before eating it. And don’t take (unwrapped, unsealed) things that can’t be washed.
C) Follow your nose. Billions of years of evolution have actually equipped you pretty well when it comes to determining which food is and isn’t safe to eat. If it looks good and smells good, it probably is good. Add a bit of common sense and looking out for signs of a few of the more dangerous things – like botulism – and you’re pretty well safe. Also pay attention to recent recalls – if the store is throwing away lots of the same thing, and none of it is expired yet, check for recalls on that product before eating it. (And look at why it was recalled. Recalled stuff is sometimes still perfectly safe to eat. Lots of recalls happen for reasons such as the product being mislabeled and not mentioning an allergen that might be present. In that case, as long as you’re not allergic to that particular thing, you’re good.)
I’ve never once gotten sick from eating dumpster food. IMO, unless you have some specific health condition that puts you at higher risk, you’re very unlikely to have problems.
You need to learn the ways of the dumpster:
A) Find the good dumpsters. Some grocery stores have ‘compost only’ dumpsters, and those are an absolute gold mine. Those ones will be full of food and only food.
B) Of course you need to wash everything thoroughly before eating it. And don’t take (unwrapped, unsealed) things that can’t be washed.
C) Follow your nose. Billions of years of evolution have actually equipped you pretty well when it comes to determining which food is and isn’t safe to eat. If it looks good and smells good, it probably is good. Add a bit of common sense and looking out for signs of a few of the more dangerous things – like botulism – and you’re pretty well safe. Also pay attention to recent recalls – if the store is throwing away lots of the same thing, and none of it is expired yet, check for recalls on that product before eating it. (And look at why it was recalled. Recalled stuff is sometimes still perfectly safe to eat. Lots of recalls happen for reasons such as the product being mislabeled and not mentioning an allergen that might be present. In that case, as long as you’re not allergic to that particular thing, you’re good.)
I’ve never once gotten sick from eating dumpster food. IMO, unless you have some specific health condition that puts you at higher risk, you’re very unlikely to have problems.