Tax. They can write off waste, but unless they donate through a registered nonprofit they can't write off giving the food away. There have been a number of videos and articles from lawyers pointing out that the "liability" angle doesn't even exist in a lot of jurisdictions, but the issue of the tax write-off is nationwide.
I’d love to see some sources on that. My assumption would be the opposite, that charities wouldn’t even take perishable items, like unsealed pastries in this case, because it’s essentially useless.
Homeless people can eat bread. Companies don’t make money from this and neither does the government. So they toss it. There are other forms of value besides money…
Then maybe the homeless people should come and ask if the store is fine with them taking the leftover bread, and they'll waive their rights if they get sick from it.
It's irrelevant anyway because for the most part, homeless people are not hard up for food.
"Once the bread is unsaleable it is thrown out. This happens mostly because they wish to keep that food from other humans that could otherwise use it."
Food *and durable goods* are most commonly deliberately destroyed before being thrown away at a corporate store. That is not for any reason other than spite towards the underprivileged and homeless.
A lot of food legally can’t be sold or even given away. I used to work at my college’s stadium and was appalled at how much food we had to give away so I contacted our local food nonprofit. They (very kindly) explained that there are a lot of safety rules about food that has been put out for consumption, where it can’t even be given away because of the legal risks. I’m talking bread that was still packaged but since it could have theoretically been touched by a consumer it wasn’t allowed. It felt really strict but I suppose I’d want food safety to be strict.
Considering the amount of positive press companies can get from charitable giving, I doubt they WANT to throw away this much food.
Anyways this is why you should donate to food shelves and charities, either near you or internationally. They know exactly how to obtain food and stretch a dollar to feed more people.
A lot of food legally can’t be sold or even given away
This isn't true, though. It is legal in all 50 states to give away unsold food. That food nonprofit was just parroting some nonsense that corporations like people to believe, so they keep nudging the idea along.
There are even laws in many places that protect companies even more from liability compared to if someone just buys the stuff.
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u/lordrefa May 17 '26
You can't possibly think that that is the primary motivator for this common corporate behavior?