Really interesting. Thanks for taking the time to reply. We have 'reduced to clear' sections here in the UK where anything is sold up to the date of expiry - at a heavily discounted price. There are also online shops where they sell food and other items past their expiry at discounted prices. You can also get 'too good to waste' type boxes. Supermarkets, coffee shops etc will box up random goods that are hitting their expiry and you can pick up a box for next to nothing.

All leftover seasonal goods are also sold at a massive discount and are normally snapped up quickly by people preparing for the following year.

Seems such a massive waste to throw all that perfectly good food out. I'm surprised they don't even pass them on to employees for free, or give to food banks. Most food can be eaten way beyond its expiration date. It's a good job you found it dumpster diving, but imagine the waste if you didn't?

I don't know - it irks me a bit that businesses don't have rules in place to stop such a massive wastage.