Any vending machine food is questionable, except candy bars. I wonder what the shelf life on them are. Those apples, oranges, bananas and sandwiches, yuck. Creepy thinking of eating anything ‘healthy’ from them gives me the hibbie jibbies.
I'm in the vending business. Almost everything I put in my machines has a clearly visible expiration date on it. I will grant that I am probably far more conscientious about dates than most route guys- in fact, I'm kind of anal about it.
Candy bars are different- they have a coded date, on the back of the package- and the manufacturers don't want us knowing the code. Still, this isn't a problem if the product turns over several times a year (chocolate holds up well if kept out of heat and direct sunlight).
Dates on most of the products we sell function only to make us have to throw them out and buy more- another week added to most of these items would make no difference in taste, but would save vending companies millions. I often bring home "stales" and feed them to my family.
Oh, and I agree with you- fruit has no place in a vending machine!