You said, "Quality dates are a big part of spoilage in the food service industry, so the quality departments in all of these organizations try to min-max the da

You said, "Quality dates are a big part of spoilage in the food service industry, so the quality departments in all of these organizations try to min-max the dates to best represent their required quality, and of course their requirements are longevity, palatability and mostly sales. If an otherwise reputable food retailer begins serving a secondary market with what is definitionally substandard products, it opens a large and murky doorway to liabilities extending far beyond a mere lawsuit. What if the next kitchen mishandles the food and serves gross food to people in need? Even hungry poor people will dislike week old, vinegary tomato slices." "the food service industry" : that term doesn't seem limited to prepared food retailers, if that's what you meant. as for "week old, vinegary tomato slices" : Second Harvest, at least, would outright reject those.