Ohio Walmart Responds To Facebook Video Showing 'Wasted' Food

CELINA, OH — Amateur videographer Gary Joe Ahms made quite a statement about super retailer Walmart tossing food that appeared perfectly good. So good, that his Facebook Live video fueled customer anger with the store in Celina, Ohio.

What many viewers of the video do not know is that Mercer County, where Celina is located, was hit by two tornadoes Nov. 5. The Celina Walmart location was without power for 14 hours, the company said in a statement on Facebook following backlash after Ahms' video was published.

"...the food being disposed of was unsafe for consumption after the store lost power for 14 hours. Per internal and health department policies, we followed proper procedures by disposing of the food," the company said in a Facebook post.

And indeed, on Nov. 8, the Mercer County Health Department took to Facebook to remind residents of the stringent guidelines for refrigerated food following an extended power outage.

"Food is deemed “unfit for human consumption” after 4 hours above 41 degrees F. Therefore, during extended lack of refrigeration, restaurants and grocery stores have no choice but to discard refrigerated foods. Also, during these disasters, packaging can become damaged such that the safety of the food is in doubt. In those cases, facilities must also be cautious and err on the side of safety," the department wrote.

"And – if it is unfit for consumption that means it should not be donated to food pantries either! The Health Department has been in touch with facilities impacted by this recent storm and are finding that facilities are making the proper decisions about the handling of their foods during this time."

For some, the damage to the Celina Walmart's reputation was already done. After being posted Nov. 6, Ahms' video has been seen 7.3 million times, liked 48,000 times, and shared more than 195,000 times. The popularity of the post led to a backlash against Walmart and, specifically, its Celina location for what appeared to be wanton waste.

Walmart's Facebook statement this past week has, conversely, drawn several comments of support for the western Ohio store.

Ahm's original video is below. Some of the language used in the video is graphic.

Photo credit: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press