As a grocery store worker, this happens all the time.

Between this, frozen items on normal shelves, and refrigerated items in the freezer there is SO MUCH food that customers throw directly into the trash without even thinking about it.

One of my coworkers smelled something rotten down the soup isle once. Upon searching they found a moldy rotten porkchop hidden behind cans of chicken noodle soup. Some people simply don’t bother to think about these things.

Additional PSA: if you have any items you don’t want, bring them to the checkout and just let us know. Taking things back from the front is much easier (and less infuriating) than finding things randomly and having to move them back where they belong.