Are Canadians getting sick from expired food? [Video]

Food affordability has become a national crisis, according to Dalhousie University Agri-Food Analytics Lab Professor Sylvain Charlebois.

“It is really happening across the country,” said Charlebois, who has published a new food safety study that surveyed 9,109 Canadians.

“The findings reveal 58 per cent are more enticed to eat food that would have the best before date either on that day or after,” he said, adding that eating potentially spoiled food to save money is dangerous.

“Take, for example, animal proteins. I would be very careful,” Charlebois warned.

Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, a Halifax community centre, feeds more than 600 peopleeach day at several locations throughout Nova Scotia.

According to Cherry Claxton,the facility’s Chief Operating Officer, many of the people who eat at Souls Harbour often make desperate decisions when it comes to the food they eat.

“If their option is to eat a can of beans that expired four years ago, or to have two dollars …