A shopper catches Sam’s Club putting new expiration stickers on old orange juice

Photo byKen Wolter/Shutterstock @schley33705/Tiktok

‘They’re restickering products.’ Expiration dates are meant to keep consumers informed and safe, but can you really trust them? One TikToker’s video is forcing Sam’s Club shoppers to wonder.

While shopping on Saturday, @schley33705 shared a short clip to the platform claiming that “Sam’s Club is up to some shenanigans.” Showing off a shelf of what’s clearly labeled “100% Orange Juice Squeezed Fresh Daily,” he accuses the store of “restickering” the products to reflect a different expiration date.

He points out a bottle as a case in point. The clear label displayed two dates: Sept. 14, which was smaller at the top, and Sept. 18, which was more noticeable. The smaller date likely indicates the date the juice was extracted, while the larger date marks the date it expired.

However, when @schley33705 scratched the sticker, it uncovered another date underneath. This one was for Sept. 16. The part of the label with the date of bottling came off with the newer sticker, but it seems the date it was bottled might have been Sept. 12.

Why would Sam’s Club alter an expiration date?

@schley33705's TikTok video has garnered more than 71,000 views to date, leading to some commenters who were keen to understand the reason behind the expiration sticker being altered.

One user suggested that it’s “possible that the person labeling them didn’t realize the date was wrong until they had a bunch labeled,” and that adding the new stickers on was actually the accurate choice.

While that’s technically true, the TikToker replied that the “difference in color and settling of the pulp” was notably different between what he thought to be “yesterday vs today juice.”

A few more people attempted to argue that numerous items are actually safe even after their expiration dates, but @schley33705 countered by stating that this isn't referring to pasteurized orange juice that lasts longer. It's intended to be freshly squeezed every day at the location. This implies that it has a shorter shelf life, but also that changing the label to suggest it was produced the same day when in reality it was made a day or two before, would be intentionally deceiving the customer into selling them a lower quality product.

Many commenters were not surprised

Even though some attempted to find reasons to justify it, the rest of the commenters on TikTok weren't shocked by the chance that Sam's Club might engage in questionable actions, such as altering the expiration date.

“As someone who works at a store sadly I’ve seen that crap far too often and it got me put in the back corner away from people because I pushed back so much about it all,” one commenter claimed.

“We have a local grocery store that scratches out expired dates on dairy products and puts them ‘on sale,’” wrote another user.

“SO MUCH SH*T FROM SAMS IS EXPIRED,” a third vented. “Only time I bought a fruit platter it looked fine and I took it home and it was all rotten.”

While @schley33705 mentioned that he had informed the manger regarding the tags, he was uncertain whether any action was taken on the matter but promised to remain vigilant during upcoming visits.