Here's What Trader Joe's Does With All Of Its Returned Food Items

Somehow, Trader Joe's influences us to completely ignore our shopping list regularly; we always manage to find a goodie there that's new and that we just have to try. But every now and then, there's a miss among the hits. So what happens if you want to return food to Trader Joe's, whether it's because there was something wrong with the item or you simply don't like it? Trader Joe's is known to have a very generous return policy, with numerous threads on Reddit devoted to discussing items people have returned. But if you return a food item, opened or not, a couple things are likely to happen: it will be thrown out, or possibly composted depending on what your local store does. What most likely won't happen is for it to be resold.

As an example, one Redditor shares that at their local outlet, items are thrown in the trash if they have left the store with a customer. They say that even if perishable food leaves the stores for just a minute and is brought right back in, it goes in the same place — trash. Some Redditors mention that Trader Joe's may compost returned food, but this is very dependent on the location and is not a store-wide program. If you want to find out if your local store does this, it's worth calling and asking.

Trader Joe's likely also doesn't resell returned food due to pretty strict food safety regulations through the FDA, which publishes a food code. These are guidelines that include how food should not be resold once it has left the store and was in the possession of a consumer. Simply put, it could be a contamination risk; grocers should follow these guidelines.

But what about food that's not returned, but just wasn't sold? One impressive accolade Trader Joe's holds over its competition is how it gives back to the community to both reduce food waste and food insecurity. The retailer's Neighborhood Shares Program donates 100% of unsold inventory that's not expired, and not opened or previously sold, to local nonprofit organizations. However, that's very different than food a customer returned. It can be very easy to spend so much money at Trader Joe's, so it's understandable why if you don't like an item, you would want to return it to the store and get your money back. But if the product is fine and you just don't like it, consider how you may be contributing to waste. Instead, give it to a friend or offer it up in a freebie group. Check with your store to see if it composts, but otherwise you should assume that what you bought is going right into the trash.