Walmart tells reason food discarded

CELINA - Walmart officials have been forced to respond after a video showing carts of food being thrown away after the Nov. 5 tornado went viral on Facebook.

The grocery chain said the food had to be thrown away because it was unsafe to eat or be donated due to the power outage from the storm.

The video shows a man identified as Gary Joe Ahrns behind the Walmart on Havemann Road rummaging through carts of food that had been brought out of the store presumably to be thrown away. A manager shows up to stop him from taking food, and Ahrns asks repeatedly the reason why store employees won't let anybody take the food. Employees and managers can be heard explaining at different points in the video that the food is not safe to eat before Ahrns is asked to leave.

Ahrns does not mention in the video that a tornado had come through Celina, causing Walmart and every other Havemann Road business to lose power nor the extent of the damage that caused most of the road to be blocked off for days.

Walmart recently posted a response on the Celina store's Facebook page:

"We have fielded a number of calls regarding a video circulating on Facebook showing our associates throwing out food, and we wanted our customers and community to understand the situation. Unfortunately, due to a tornado that affected our store in Celina, Ohio, on November 5, 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."