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Donating food

Food businesses can donate food, but they must ensure the food is safe to eat.

The Food Act 1984 does not prevent businesses from giving away food. However, it requires businesses to dispose of unsafe food.

Food is unsafe if it is likely to cause physical harm to the person who consumes it.

You can donate food to charities or emergency service organisations.

Making sure donated food is safe

You must follow the same food safety requirements for donated food as for any other food.

Handle, store, pack and transport food safely at all times.

Arrange for donated food to be collected or delivered as quickly as possible. This reduces the time food stays outside safe temperature control.

Food may look, smell and taste normal even when it contains harmful bacteria. High‑risk foods can quickly become unsafe if you do not refrigerate them or consume them promptly, especially in warm weather.

Temperature control

Keep high‑risk food:

  • below 5°C, or
  • above 60°C

This keeps the food out of the temperature danger zone (5°C to 60°C).

High‑risk foods include:

  • meat and poultry
  • seafood
  • eggs
  • dairy products
  • smallgoods
  • foods that contain these products, such as sandwiches, quiches and prepared salads

During transport, keep high‑risk food at safe temperatures wherever possible.

Handling and transport

You should:

  • transfer food into clean, covered, food‑grade containers
  • keep transport times as short as possible
  • maintain high standards of personal hygiene and cleanliness

Food safety in an emergency

Emergencies are unpredictable, and the risk of food poisoning is often greater at these times. The Act does not stop people from donating food to emergency service organisations, but you should consider the risks.

Emergency workers need to remain healthy while responding to disasters. People affected by emergencies should not experience additional hardship from food poisoning.

In an emergency, it can be harder to keep food safe. Even if you prepare food safely, emergency services may not be able to guarantee safe storage, handling or distribution. For example, they may not have access to reliable refrigeration, suitable storage space or clean running water for handwashing.

For general advice, see Food safety during power outages.

Donating to emergency services

Check with the organisation before donating food.

Emergency services may not be able to accept ready‑to‑eat food, including food for frontline workers.

Consider other ways to help:

  • offer shelf‑stable foods such as canned goods, biscuits, cereals and bottled water
  • volunteer to assist with food preparation and service in on‑site kitchens
  • make financial donations to organisations such as the Red Cross

Contact your local emergency service organisation, the Red Cross or your council to confirm how you can best assist.

The law provides protection to businesses that donate food to charitable organisations, provided certain conditions are met.

You must ensure that:

  • you donate food in good faith for a charitable or benevolent purpose
  • the receiver does not pay for the food
  • the food is safe to eat when it leaves your control
  • you give the charity any information it needs to ensure the food remains safe

You should also check that the charity is doing everything needed to keep food safe.

Donated food is usually:

  • unused food prepared by a food business that has not been served, or
  • food purchased by a business that is no longer needed

Updated

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