On a cool-but-sunny February day in Toronto’s west end, a temperature-controlled truck pulls up at the rear of a Metro grocery store, where pallets of food about to reach their sell-by date sit waiting. It’s time for the Daily Bread food bank’s weekly pickup.

Each package of meat, loaf of bread and deli item has been carefully inspected before ending up on the loading dock.

For grocers, selling perishable items means making continual choices about every item on display—especially the ones nearing the end of their shelf life. For those that don’t sell in time, most stores try to donate them to food banks rather than throw them away.

“It’s daily calls (on the floor),” said John Crisafulli, manager of the Metro location, during a walk-through with a Canadian Press reporter. All departments begin their day by scanning for items nearing expiration and picking them out, along with those with blemishes or flaws that make them undesirable.