Many of our grocery stores have bilk food bins where we can buy items in just the quantity we need and without a great deal of packaging. These items usually work out to a better price per kilo or pound than their packaged cousins. While I am all for saving money on buying food, I am a bit uncomfortable with the sanitary aspect of these foods. Depending on the item and the way it is dispensed, I may opt for the pre packaged version because if my concerns. I often see people grazing in the bulk bins, sticking their hands in and contaminating the batch. Some items like jams and honey are sold in bulk and who knows what sort of dust and debris (including bugs) has gotten into them. Do you buy foods in bulk? Are you ever concerned that the foods may not have been handled with care? What strategies do your stores employ to deter contamination?
For something like honey or jam, I wouldn't buy any that was unpackaged unless I buy it straight from the source. Um . . . the bee farmer in the case of honey. Anything else like wheat flour for example, I wouldn't mind buying because the process of baking would kill all germs which technically would make it safe for consumption.
I've never seen such a thing. So it's just a big bin full of honey? That's definitely odd to me, and no I would not buy that either. Who knows what's in there! Sometimes I feel like buying in bulk is just a bigger waste. It's like extreme couponing - it forces you to buy things that you may not use that much of or need all for the sake of "saving money."
I would not buy food in bulk without the proper packaging of keeping it safe. I buy in bulk with stuff that's pre packaged individually. SAMs Club is where I buy my bulk items most of the time.
I can't believe I used to enjoy buying candy in bulk when I was a kid - these days I avoid the bulk bins as well. I can appreciate them being beneficial for those who are concerned about the environment and waste from packaging, but in addition to the sanitary issues, I also wonder how much of that bulk stuff ends up getting tossed after a certain amount of time because it goes bad from being exposed to the air so easily. From what I recall, the prices were never substantially different from the packaged variety in any of the instances where I compared the two. I will sometimes though, buy larger "bulk" containers of a given item, such as teryaki sauce or mayo, if there is a good price on it.
Yes, I do buy some bulk items. There's a local indoor Farmer's Market that sells items in bulk. I like to buy beans, rice, soup mix, and lentils. I also buy dark chocolate almonds in bulk too. I like buying bulk items because I can choose the amount that I buy. It's also very cheap. I can get beans, dry soup mix, and lentils for less than $2 per pound. I can well for cheap.
i never buy in bulk because i'm always worried that il get tired of something and it will go to waste. i'm never around that mabey people (just me and my parents) so I never really need that much of the same things. plus my appetite comes and go's and changes so i would never do that.
It all depends on the product I am looking for. I would buy dry goods like Rice, Noodles, Pastas, Oats, and perhaps some of the junk/candy foods in the bins, but I have never been one to buy anything that is easily contaminated, from the bulk bin. I prefer to buy my honey, peanut butter, jam products in sealed containers instead. Containers these products are shipped in, are much more suitable for preservation than the standard plastic pop on/off lid that most of the bulk bin products are stored in.
