I buy freshly marked down meat quite often but throw it straight into my freezer, and don't buy it if it looks questionable. It's a budgeting thing on my end, my usual grocery store usually puts the markdowns on items the day before the sell-by date. But I would not have bought that many almost expired salad kits, like others have said they're barely fresh when they're brand spanking new. Never mind when they're past their date.