What Aldi Allegedly Does With Food Returned By Customers

Aldi is known for its "Twice As Nice Guarantee" return policy, giving customers a refund and replacement on most returned items — national brands and non-food items are excluded, and, depending on local regulations, alcohol is also often not returnable. The policy is handy when you've gotten too many of a disappointing new product or overbought baking ingredients, but what happens to the items you bring back? Allegedly, food products you return to Aldi go straight to the dumpster — and some claim they're even purposefully sabotaged on the way out the door.

"Did you know when Aldi throws away all the returns, we literally have to open them, make them inedible completely, and dump them so people dumpster digging can't possibly want to eat them?" one person wrote in TheAldiNerd.com Community Facebook group. That's one of the more extreme stories of what happens to returned items at Aldi, but it's not the only one that details trashed food. A 2024 Reddit post echoes the practice, saying, "Aldi has a policy that any returned food that's left the store has to be thrown out, so I tend to have to throw out otherwise perfectly good food."

Customers say they've seen returned items go into the trash firsthand as well, counting the cash they received from the return as the employee sweeps it into the trash. One Redditor said she overbought cheese, meat, and chips for a party, and when she returned the unused, unopened packages, she watched the employee put them in the trash. "I almost changed my mind, but it was $25," the Reddit user said. "I understand there are probably codes around this, but yikes, it was wasteful."

Workers and shoppers say Aldi trashes returned food items for a few reasons, though the store's official return policy doesn't mention it at all. Most surmise it's due to food safety because you never really can know what happens to food products once they've left the store. "Especially with perishables like meats and cheeses, there's no way to guarantee that they were safely handled, stored, etc. from the time they left the store to the time they were returned," one Redditor wrote. On a different post, another person said, "Unfortunately, some people tamper with food so stores don't want to be liable."

Customers are divided on a few products from the budget-friendly grocery store — like frozen Aldi broccoli and Bake Shop cinnamon rolls – and when you run into something you don't like, Aldi's "Twice As Nice Guarantee" exists to make up for it. Though the store graciously accepts returns, there are ways to avoid taking things back if you want to avoid food waste. Limit the amount you buy initially to bypass the problem completely or pass on products you don't need or like to others. You can donate to food banks or give items away to friends who like them better.