Expired

I don't know if it's just my bad luck or only a problem at the two stores where I usually shop for groceries, but the last several times I have been grocery shopping, I have found packages of food on the shelf that were past their "sell by" date. The items range from bread and hot dogs a week past their marked dates, vegetable dip a month past its date, and several packages of cheese that expired last April. The item that bothered me most, though, was a package of infant vitamin drops that was several months past its "sell by" date ... it bothers me to think that if I hadn't been paying attention, I might have given Drew something that might not have been good for him.

I typically have Drew and Gracie along when I am doing my grocery shopping, so ideally, I would like to get in and out of the grocery store as quickly as possible. I now find myself pausing to check the date on every single item that I put in my cart. I'm sure it makes my shopping trip last longer, but I don't know what else to do.

I have found expired items only once at one store, but it seems to be an ongoing problem at the other store. I filled out a comment card complaining about the expired items and received a telephone call from the store manager, who assured me that they are working to correct the problem. Several months later, however, I still typically find at least one expired item on every shopping trip. Short of boycotting the stores in my area and driving an extra fifteen minutes to shop elsewhere, what else can I do? Is this a problem for other people, or does it only happen to me?