'We Get Fired If We Eat Them' - Dunkin' Worker Claims They Have To Throw Away Hundreds Of Donuts Every Night

A Dunkin’ worker just lit a match under the internet, and it’s not about coffee. In a viral TikTok with more than 12.3 million views, the claim is brutally simple: “We get fired if we eat them,” meaning hundreds of donuts can end up in the trash every night. And the comments make it messier, because some Dunkin’ locations apparently do the opposite, with bosses encouraging workers to take unsold donuts home, while others apparently punish them for it.

So the real story is not just waste, it’s how one chain can swing from “take them home” to “throw them away,” all while people struggle to eat.

With approximately 12,900 locations in 42 countries, Dunkin' is one of the largest coffee shop and donut shop chains in the world. Its products include donuts, bagels, coffee, and "Munchkins" donut holes.

Dunkin

A now-viral TikTok video, viewed more than 12.3 million times, exposes Dunkin' Donuts' food waste to consumers.

That TikTok line about getting fired is what made everyone’s stomach drop, especially once commenters started comparing rules from different shifts.

Then the comment section got loud, with workers saying their boss let them take donuts home, while others acted like the trash was the only option.

If this video made you angry, you are not alone. However, comments below the video indicate that this is not a common practice in all Dunkin' restaurants.

“I work at Dunkin', and our boss actually encourages us to take home donuts that don’t sell,” one commenter wrote.“It just depends where you work; [most] of them let you take them home for free,” another user stated.“My shift leader would always let me take what I wanted home,” a third claimed. “My siblings loved when I worked nights at Dunkin.'”

Others suggested that the excess baked goods could be donated or otherwise given away to avoid being thrown in the trash.

“It just makes no sense to waste food if it's still safe to consume, just not up for sale anymore,” one commenter wrote.“Why don’t they give it to poor people or to charity? This is so sad,” another suggested.“You should check out the app Too Good To Go and see if your managers would consider joining that!” a third added.

It’s the same kind of problem as the lunch theft standoff, where I’m debating stopping sharing with a sticky-fingered coworker.

Suddenly, the nightly donut mountain became a whole debate, with people pointing out charity and apps like Too Good To Go as the obvious alternative.

Throwing away food while millions face food insecurity is simply awful.

And once you connect that waste to the staggering 349 million people facing acute food insecurity, the “depends where you work” part feels downright cruel.

A record 349 million people across 79 countries are facing acute food insecurity – up from 287 million in 2021. This constitutes a staggering rise of 200 million people compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. More than 900,000 people worldwide are fighting to survive in famine-like conditions. This is ten times more than five years ago, representing an alarmingly rapid increase.

If donuts can be safe enough to eat, nobody should be forced to watch them disappear into the trash.

Next, see why I’m judging the coworker who keeps taking my banana bread at work, AITA?