Ohio Food Bank Worker Reveals The Partially-Eaten And Expired Items People Try To Donate—And Yikes

There are people in need all over the world, so it's kind when people who have the resources can donate money, food, toys, clothes, and other products that might otherwise be unattainable.

But not all donations are created equal, as Ohio food bank employee and TikToker @celloplayer219 recently pointed out.

When it comes to clothing and toys, it's important to donate gently-used and clean items, not things that are terribly worn, ripped, or damaged. There are always some people, though, who try to donate ripped and stained clothes, broken and incomplete toys, and other, obviously used items, for the sake of feeling good about themselves for donating something.

But TikToker @celloplayer219 made a video to point out the most common issues she sees with food donations, and some of them are shocking.

At her food bank, food cannot be donated to the public if it has passed its "sell by" date, but she often sees food being donated that is well past the "use by" date, which is even later than the final selling date.

Another common and much more dangerous thing she's noticed is bloated or "poofy" cans. This means that bacteria has gotten into the can and begun to consume what is inside, and has begun to release toxins—the equivalent of farting—into the can. If this were to go unnoticed, the person who eats that food could end up needing to be hospitalized.

For this reason, dented cans and cans that appear to have been chewed or defecated on, common in hoarding houses where mice and rats might be present, are also not accepted due to the possibility that bacteria may have already been introduced.

Each of these issues could possibly be an accident or based on an outdated belief about the actual longevity of canned and packed food. We've all found an expired can of beans or vegetables in the back of our pantry at some point, and it would be easy enough to miss that date and try to donate it.

But what shocks TikToker @celloplayer219 the most is the donation of partially-eaten food. To demonstrate, she opened a can of peanut butter, which was half-eaten. It's also possible that it was donated by mistake, like donating the used peanut butter instead of the fresh one, but it's still very concerning.

You can watch the video here:

In a follow-up video, TikToker @celloplayer219 confirmed that she didn't think anything nefarious or malicious was happening with the donations, but she still felt it was important to point out these issues so people can be more mindful while donating.

Donating has become much more popular with the rise of decluttering and minimalism, because people are quick to donate anything that could be of use instead of placing it in a landfill. But in their rush to clear space in their homes, people aren't necessarily checking their donations carefully enough.

You can watch the second video here:

This subject also came up on the "TikTok Cringe" subReddit, where Redditors agreed with the TikToker about how common these issues are, with many sharing their own experiences with donation fails.

"I helped run a soup kitchen and drop-in. This sh*t is so common, and the people who give the least always thought they were f**kin' McKenzie Scott or something."

"The one I'll never forget is the old lady who brought a huge ziplock full of USED TEA BAGS, because 'you can use them twice and I only use them once so I can donate them!'"

"She even asked about a tax receipt for her charitable donation." - Logical-Breakfast150

"Bruh. I volunteered at a food bank for a few years. The literal GARBAGE people would try to donate and be offended when we would not take it."

"I'm talking open food that was half-eaten and rotted. Canned food expired for DECADES. Filthy hoarder house items with literal rat droppings on them. It was insane." - Lilac48

"No joke, this is so common that I never recommend donation as a first line of 'decluttering' from hoarded homes. Even in date items are stored so poorly as to become contaminated." - SoberBobMonthly

"I used to work at a women's shelter that frequently received clothing donations. The worst offender we ever had was a box of men's clothing (given to a women's shelter, mind you) that included pairs of second-hand underwear that had skidmarks on them." - Patient_Tradition368

"My grandpa had a very comfortable life, made millions from early union contracts and employee stock in companies that took off at different times and fueled his investments by two uncles who had seats on the NY stock exchange."

"He would go buy knockoff macaroni boxes from the dollar store and drop them off as donations and he’d talk about it like he donated thousands of dollars. It grossed me out so bad and still makes me squirm." - UnfortunatelyMacabre

"I went to a rich kid's school for a while (financial aid), and each grade did a huge charity drive every year at Christmas. Most of the parents involved actually put forth a ton of effort to make sure every donation was top quality, and the kids were happy to box things up or go pick out gifts."

"But there were always a few families that just couldn't stop grumbling about it. A dad came in while we were wrapping presents and said, 'Oh, I thought they'd get off-brand stuff.'"

"And, in true eighth-grade fashion, some kid responded, 'Uh, a bunch of us are going on cruises for Christmas. I think we can afford Legos.'" - reluctantseal

"I worked in my early 20s at a furniture/housewares charity/nonprofit and had the same experiences of people looking to dump garbage with zero shame, right to your face. 'Can I still get a tax receipt if you don't accept this?'"

"Then there is the anger some of them would direct at you! I started with so much faith in humanity."

"On the other end of the spectrum, it's very pleasant, though. It was adjacent to HCOL (high cost of living), so we had several donations from households that would buy a new living room every two to four years and donate the like-new set they probably didn't use much. Tons of volunteer labor, really loyal community." - actuallyapossum

"It's fine if informed preppers know what they're doing with expired cans and are prepared to take the risk, but to donate it to others who don't have the knowledge to protect themselves is criminal." - Arcturion

"Five years past its expiration date is bad, but moving my grandma out of her house, she had canned food in the pantry that was easily accessible. I grabbed a can of soup to eat, and only after I opened some kind of Pandora's box did I realize it was six years expired."

"We were going to donate all of the pantry stuff before that moment. The woman loved to cook. My dad was shocked by how much had turned out to be expired. Point is, not everything is malicious." - spare-ribs-from-admin

"I was at the food bank last month and a woman came in to return a can of food that was given to her that expired in 2014. I was given fresh fish dip that had expired for a month once and a can of spaghetti sauce last week that expired in 2023, which was rancid when I opened it."

"It's very common to get inedible expired food and happens pretty much every time I go."

"That's not an honest, reasonable mistake. It's negligence that will get someone sick, possibly someone elderly or in ill health that could potentially die from it. And this is a nicer food bank in an affluent area that gets lots of donations from places like Sprouts, Whole Foods, Chick-fil-A, and Einstein Bagels." - Much-Still1549

This conversation is in no way meant to deter people from donating to those in need—far from it!

But it's important to be mindful about what we donate, and a good approach to that is thinking about what we would be grateful to receive if we were in need, and what would make us feel like lesser beings in other people's eyes.

Receiving clothes, toys, and food can be helpful and appreciated, but receiving stained underwear, broken and incomplete toys, decades-old soup and pasta, and open peanut butter would surely make us feel less than cared for.