Is it safe to purchase dented canned foods off the grocery shelves or in a “reduced for quick sale” basket in the store?
It depends. If the dent is a sharp dent on the top or bottom seam, or on the side seam of the can, the product is not fit for sale and should not be purchased. There could be a pinhole leak which may have sealed itself, but which may have caused contamination of the food. However, this should not preclude you from purchasing slightly dented cans which the store has placed for quick sale because the cans do not look good. What are the Texas Food Establishment Rules (TFER)? The TFER is a comprehensive set of rules for the regulation of retail food establishments. These rules are based on the 1997 FDA Model Food Code. In these rules, food establishments include: restaurants, grocery stores, mobile food vendors, temporary food establishments, roadside food vendors and others. The Rules replace the existing Rules on Food Service Sanitation and the Rules on Retail Food Store Sanitation. Download a copy of the rules from the Texas Department of Health HERE.
