A video showing large amounts of donuts inside a waste bin near a Krispy Kreme location in California has sparked outrage and questions about food waste online.
TikTok creator Nathan (@nateinamdar) filmed a large trash can that appears to be mostly filled with glazed donuts while panning the camera toward the Krispy Kreme store.
“Nah, Krispy Kreme,” he says. “This is unacceptable, bro. I would have loved these donuts.”
“Lost my appetite so quick,” he added in the caption.
Commenters Share Their Thoughts
In the comments section, some viewers said the practice seemed unethical.
“The U.S is actually so wasteful,” one commenter wrote.
“Anything but giving to the poor,” another chimed in.
A third argued the practice shouldn’t be allowed. “It should be illegal to throw away food,” they wrote.
Can Krispy Kreme Donate Its Leftover Donuts?
Some commenters suggested that companies discard food instead of donating it because of liability concerns.
“They used to give it out at the end of the day but a homeless person choked on one and sued them for money so now they don’t give it out anymore,” one commenter wrote, repeating a story several others referenced.
However, there is no evidence supporting this claim, and it appears to be more of an online anecdote than a documented incident.
Additionally, U.S. law offers protections for businesses that donate food. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act safeguards restaurants, grocery stores, and other food providers from liability when they donate food in good faith to nonprofit organizations.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the law protects businesses that donate food even if the items are not marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, or other factors, as long as they meet quality and labeling safety standards.
Even when products don’t fully meet those standards, the law allows donations if the donor and the nonprofit agree to recondition the food.
The protections apply broadly across the food industry, from farmers and food trucks to large corporations such as Krispy Kreme.
Reddit Users Also Chimed In
A Reddit user also shared a photo of what appears to be the same trash can, criticizing the Krispy Kreme location for discarding the donuts.
“Local Krispy Kreme throws their unsold donuts into a dumpster outside at the end of the night,” they wrote. “Instead of selling them at lower prices, they’d rather throw them all away.”
Commenters under the post shared their own experiences with local businesses and how they handle leftover food.
“When I was a teenager we would go hang out at the local Dunkin’ Donuts at night because it was one of the only places in our shitty town that was open late,” one user wrote. “The lady who worked the closing shift liked us because we were well behaved and she always sent us home with a huge bag of donuts rather than throw them away.”
“When I worked at a gas station alone overnight, instead of trashing the donuts, I used to give them to people,” another commenter wrote. “I hated that job.”
@nateinamdar Lost my appetite so quick 😭
BroBible has reached out to Krispy Kreme via email and Nathan via TikTok messages for comment.