Can We Throw Away Rotten Food Packages At Food Supermarkets?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I work for a produce section at a store. Sometimes, we come across packages of berries or other items that have become moldy or spoiled. We are told to process and discard any item that no customer would buy. I don’t throw away anything, but I find packages and containers that I feel would be unfair to sell to customers and take them off the shelf. I exercise caution and only take off whatever looks bad to avoid wastefulness. The issue is that the containers we throw away may have some berries or fruit in good condition, and we are not allowed to eat them or give them to animals to eat. Would I be allowed to process and throw anything away like this? Does this come under wastefulness?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question and concern over the disposal of rotten food and food waste.

If there are no arrangements for distributing the food to others or animals, one should speak to the manager to arrange for rotten and stale food to be given to food recycling centers where it is turned into compost. See the links below.

Allah Most said, ‘Eat of the fruit they bear and pay the dues at harvest, but do not waste. Surely He does not like the wasteful.’ [Quran, 6:141]

‘O children of Adam, take your adornment [i.e., wear your clothing] at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.’
[Quran, 7:31]

May Allah Most High protect us from being wasteful. Amin.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Related Answers

• Getting Rid of Spoiled Food – SeekersGuidance
• How to Dispose of Leftover Food – SeekersGuidance
• Throwing Away Food – SeekersGuidance

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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.