David
, I am so sorry to hear about the incident - getting fired is a very, very unpleasant experience.
I hope you will find something new soon
However, like everybody else says, the whole story sounds strange. Why wouldn't they allow people to eat stuff that are going to be thrown away?? It doesn't make sense. And even if it was not allowed, and you didn't know, why on earth would they just fire you without giving you a second chance or warning or whatever? I mean, you have to know that there is a rule in order to break it, you didn't know, so it was not, at least entirely, your fault..After all, in law there is something called " good faith"..
Maybe they wanted to hire a relative or something..
Anyway, take care and I 'm sure you'll find a place with nicer employers..