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In workplace where there is a refrigerator, there is also some rule of regularly cleaning out by the end of some day, for example,the end of a week, or the end of a month. It is usually phrased like "all food left inside will be thrown out after 5pm on Friday."

Is it ethical to eat or take the food that is still left inside the refrigerator after the clean-out time? Thanks.

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  • 3
    You mean food that isn’t yours?
    – AsheraH
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 16:31
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    Where is it « usually phrased »? Or just you trying (badly) to justify your theft?
    – Solar Mike
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 17:21
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    I am not one who is trying to get a reason to steal the food of others - that seems heartless indeed.
    – Solar Mike
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 17:36
  • 2
    I am not the one who is trying to throw accusations into other people , not being afraid of showing human cruelty and nonchalance to food waste @s
    – Tim
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 17:44
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    @SolarMike: I believe Tim's reasoning is that by leaving their food where they shouldn't, his colleagues have demonstrated they don't actually care about it, so it is free for all. Such reasoning is faulty, but perhaps not necessarily malicious.
    – J. Doe
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 17:52

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Is it ethical to eat or take the food that is still left inside the refrigerator after the clean-out time?

No. It is not OK to take somebody else's food. Even if the food will soon be thrown in the trash.

Imagine if the deadline is 5PM and you look in the fridge at 6PM. How do you know the food doesn't belong to the person who will walk in any minute to clean the fridge. Once they are done with that task they will take their food home. Or they could decide to keep their food in the fridge.

Imagine it is 8PM and the food was put in the fridge by somebody that works the night shift. You would be stealing their food.

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  • Indeed. Food that is left in the fridge might also be labeled by someone indicating it should not be thrown on cleaning day. Or maybe someone took it out before the cleaning and put it back in the fridge.
    – zmike
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 18:04
  • As for food that is actually being thrown out by the cleaner (because someone forgot about it or whatever): that might be fair game, but do you really want to eat food that has been abandoned?
    – zmike
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 18:09
  • Is night shift likely on Friday night before a long weekend? Is somebody's dinner likely to be no fresh?
    – Tim
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 18:10
  • @zmike I ate an opened package of girl scout cookies labeled with Sept052020. Not sure how that survived so many clean outs
    – Tim
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 18:11
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    @Tim: According to your previous questions, you are new at your current workplace. If you want to fit in, it might be good idea to observe what are your colleagues doing and act similarly. The fact that obviously expired package was still in fridge, suggest your colleagues don't clean it on their own. In your question about closing eyes during the break, Kilisi suggested they are grilling you for that merely as rationalization, because they have other reasons to dislike you. Perhaps this might be piece of the puzzle.
    – J. Doe
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 18:37
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Is it ethical to eat or take the food that is still left inside the refrigerator after the clean-out time?

If you are not designated cleaning person, leave it be. Taking other people's stuff just because they left it where they shouldn't is childish at best.

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What a question!

Not only is it completely unethical, but it's also incredibly unwise. Food left in the fridge is left there on an honors-system approach, but you can find countless instances of people deliberately spiking food with laxatives, spicy substances and otherwise when there's the perception that someone has been stealing their food. You may have allergies to something someone cooks with. Or along the same lines, you may ingest something that's spoiled and get yourself a deadly case of botulism, salmonella, or other food poisoning.

The risks totally outweigh the benefits.

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