Food near its expiration date selling at a discount was once mainly bought by the elderly, but it is increasingly common among young Chinese people. The trend has grown in popularity since the Chinese government passed anti-food waste laws. But is it safe to consume food near its expiration date? Is it value for money or could it be bad for health? 

Let's say you just found out that the bag of cereal you eat every morning is expiring today. And there's half a bag left. 

You would probably throw it away... but what happens if you don't? Does it mean the cereal that tastes completely fine right now would give you food poisoning after midnight? 

Scientifically, food doesn't go bad in a split second. It's a gradual process. And the expiry date is supposed to fall somewhere along this process. 

Producers print an earlier date on the packaging as a sort of a disclaimer. "We guarantee the quality of the food before the expiry date, if anything happens after that, you are on your own."

Meanwhile, wholesalers and retailers often slash prices to save on storage costs. 

That's where near-expired food comes in.

It's still edible, safe, could be as tasty and nutritious. And, it's not even necessarily a last-minute sale. 

In China, food that's halfway through their recommended storage periods usually won't make it into supermarkets. And that has opened a window for online sale. 

Last year, iMedia research conducted a survey among Chinese consumers. Over 80 percent of those surveyed have bought food close to their expiry dates. 

A report by iMedia Research also shows that the total output value of China's snack food industry exceeded 3 trillion yuan ($464 billion) in 2020. Even if calculated by 1 percent of inventory precipitation, the market size of the near-expired food industry would surpass 30 billion yuan, with huge growth potential.

A total of 2.1 million people buy near-expired food on e-commerce platform Taobao every year, according to a report released by Taobao and Kepu China. These food have a new round of sales peak due to big discounts and unaffected tastes during the remaining 20-50 percent of their shelf life. Among them, potato chips are the most popular, followed by instant noodles and drinks. 
 

In terms of sales channels for these near-expired foods, we got e-commerce platforms like Taobao, Suning and JD.com, as well as social e-commerce channels like WeChat Group, QQ group and WeChat Mini Programs. There are also specialty stores for these foods. In China, there are currently 52 registered companies that sell near-expired foods. 

According to official data, Chinese cities waste around 18 billion kilograms of food every year. Making use of these nearly expired foods is not only good for China but the entire planet. 

(CGTN's Gao Songya, Cheng He, Zhou Qianbin also contributed to this story)