Shoppers Report Past-Date Food in Casper, Cheyenne Grocery Cases

Shoppers in Casper and Cheyenne found grocery packages carrying dates that had already passed this week. At the Albertsons store in Casper on Tuesday, Oct. 27, a package of Signature Select chicken wing drummettes carried a use-or-freeze-by date of Oct. 25. Seasoned chicken in the same refrigerated case was labeled Oct. 27, and a container of refrigerated pizza dough was also dated Oct. 27.

Other items in that store were current: salmon dated Oct. 28, chicken salad dated Oct. 29, and a meat-and-cheice tray dated Oct. 27. In the pet food aisle, a Sheba cat food container marked Best By 03/21/26 sat under a clearance tag, more than seven months past its date. A frozen-food section that normally holds entrees was empty, leaving bare shelves and price tags, and no cause for the gap was determined.

At the Smith's on CY Avenue, markdown stickers marked down an organic kale Caesar salad kit dated Oct. 29 to $1.40 and butternut squash noodles dated Oct. 29 to $3.45. Taylor Hunter, a Cheyenne DoorDasher, wrote Monday in a local Facebook group that items near the deli at the Albertsons on East Pershing were close to or past their dates, including some that expired Oct. 17.

Selling food after a printed date is generally legal in Wyoming and most of the country, and federal law treats most package dates as quality measures rather than safety dates. Jennifer Escobedo, director of Environmental Health for Cheyenne-Laramie County Public Health, said most date labels mark best quality rather than a safety cutoff. Food prepared in-store is an exception: it must be date marked and used within seven days, and inspectors cite violations when that window is exceeded, she said. Infant formula is another exception, and inspectors cite it when found past the package date.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture groups phrases such as Best if Used By, Sell-By, Use-By and Freeze-By under quality, with infant formula as the exception. The FDA supports Best if Used By as a standard phrase for flavor and quality, not safety. FDA estimates date-label confusion accounts for about 20% of consumer food waste, and ReFED found date-label concerns account for nearly 46% of retailers' surplus food nationwide. ReFED estimated Wyoming's retail sector generated about 8,660 tons of surplus food in 2024, or more than 17.3 million pounds.

LeAnn Miller, who runs Eat Wyoming in Casper, said expired products usually come from inventory that has not been watched closely. She said full shelves look good to shoppers but leave more inventory waiting to be bought, and unsold stock becomes a loss. Dr. R. Larry Meuli, who inspected food establishments in Wyoming public health work, said restaurants concerned him more than grocery stores, and he advises shoppers to check dates and look at the package itself for bulging cans or cracked containers.