TikTok Reveals The Sad Fate Of Dunkin's Leftover Donuts

It's hard to consider anything more upsetting in life than watching a donut accidentally slip from your fingers and plummet uncontrollably to the ground, splattering its battered innards across every nearby building, person, and puppy. Tragedies like that do happen. But imagine deliberately throwing donuts away. Surely, that constitutes a sin, right?

Given the irresistible sugary beauty of donuts, you'd think they would only be disposed of if there was something fatally wrong with them (if they were past their expiry date, perhaps. Or if they'd started transforming into alien creatures). However, a TikTok video suggests that at least some Dunkin' stores ditch hundreds of delicious donuts every day.

The video, uploaded by TikTok user @aidenshaw142, purports to show a Dunkin' staff member closing one of the chain's locations – and following company instructions to pour dozens of donuts into a trash can. Text on the video expresses the worker's displeasure with the policy: "I hate closing here!!!" The post claimed that the same employee who is now being asked to scrap donuts used to "[scrape] change" to afford one, adding, "Sucks not being able to give this many donuts away." Many TikTok viewers have questioned why the donuts could not be donated to people in need.

This isn't the only time a TikToker has appeared to show hundreds of donuts from Dunkin' landing in the trash, much to viewers' dismay. Given that food waste in the U.S. amounts to almost 150,000 tons a day (wasting huge amounts of land and water, as well as contributing to greenhouse gas releases – according to The Guardian), Dunkin's donut ditching policy might seem curious.

Viewers of the TikTok video have been understandably confused, with numerous folks suggesting the staff member could have given them away. However, this idea has been rebuked by the uploader who says workers risk being fired for not disposing of donuts in the correct way. Some commenters have also speculated that Dunkin' might not want to donate donuts in case its profits are affected or a defective product causes a health problem.

The Dunkin' website says the company operates an End of Day Donation scheme that allows franchisees to choose to give away surplus bakery items (subject to local regulations and the approval of individual branch owners). The company also runs a composting program, enabling local Dunkin' stores to decide to recycle organic waste (such as coffee beans) as compost. The compost can then be donated to community causes. Dunkin' expects its franchisees to use their discretion when considering how to dispose of excess donuts.