What do food banks do with 'random' donated items?

[Foodbankquestion]

I know most food banks have staple items they want for donation that they put in their food parcels like dry pasta/rice, tinned vegetables etc. But what do they do with the random items which don't fall into the common categories but occasionally get donated anyways? Like herbs, or jars of mayo or ketchup, or flavoured rice packets for lunch etc.

If the food bank has a first come first serve operation then I get that clients can just pick what they want, but now since COVID I think many food banks just prepare the parcels themselves. So how do they decide to give the ketchup to Person A and not Person B?

And what do they do when it comes to matters of preferences - so who gets the chocolate digestives and who gets the custard creams, without knowing who likes what?

I think it's a case of get what's given.

A family member used to get them Ans 50% of it was stuff he wouldn't use like cola, lemonade., biscuits etc. He used to just hand it back.

Flavoured rice we'd use as a savoury snack.

The other things Mayo etc we used to have as a help yourself bucket - clients could pick 3 items. A bit more difficult through covid but coming back - more of a pick from a shelf by pointing/asking.

In terms of choices- hungry people eat what they are given. It's not a free shopping trip? We try and accommodate for example if people ask for rice instead of pasta, tea instead of coffee, and we'll try to work around food allergies/intolerance depending on what we have in on the day. Alot depends on how many parcels we are packing that day... 10 I might have time for choices 30 you get what your given!

What is wrong with these items? People on a tight budget don't eat all their food from foodbanks- ketchup and mayonnaise may be just the kind of things they can't affort.
Packets of flavoured rice can be turned into meals, adding tuna or a can of sweetcorn, covered with cheese and baked.
If you think a packet of flavoued rice nas no value then think again.
People will often do with what they have,
Have a look at what people do in prison with the snacks and instant noodles thay can buy with their meagre allowance to supplement the trash they have to eat.

@speakout

What is wrong with these items? People on a tight budget don't eat all their food from foodbanks- ketchup and mayonnaise may be just the kind of things they can't affort. Packets of flavoured rice can be turned into meals, adding tuna or a can of sweetcorn, covered with cheese and baked. If you think a packet of flavoued rice nas no value then think again. People will often do with what they have, Have a look at what people do in prison with the snacks and instant noodles thay can buy with their meagre allowance to supplement the trash they have to eat.

I definitely don't think there's anything wrong with these items, they're very helpful! I was just wondering how food banks manage them - if they're giving out 30 food parcels today for example, they'd presumably have at least 30 packs of pasta/rice they can include in the parcels. But with mayo or ketchup, they're not often donated so if there's only a few jars, then how do they decide which of those 30 people will get one - that was my question.

The local one has some sort of ticklist to see what things might be useful for a client.

I volunteer for a family charity and one of our sessions is next door to the food bank. We've regularly been given unsuitable items to either offer to families or use during the group (out of date cereal is great for sensory play!)