It’s currently that most wonderful time of the year: Girl Scout cookies are available for sale from your friendly local Girl Scouts…well, or your co-worker who has a daughter. Last year, though, a video camera caught workers crushing cases of Girl Scout cookies to render them inedible before dispatching them to the landfill.

The toll of cookie destruction was high: 1,100 cases of cookies, or about 13,000 boxes. CBS Los Angeles traced the source back to a Girl Scout Council in Redlands, Calif., and questioned a spokesman about their fate. ““We didn’t know that was the way they were being disposed of,” the spokesman said, decrying the waste of food.

The council assured the reporter that normally they donate leftover cookies to food banks or elsewhere.

Investigation: Why Were More Than 13,000 Boxes Of Perfectly Fine Girl Scout Cookies Tossed? [CBS Los Angeles]

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