Good Samaritan Food Donation Bill Passed – Encouraging Food Donations Whilst Protecting Food Donors and Consumers

Food wastage and food insecurity are growing issues in Singapore. To provide a remedy to these twin problems, the Good Samaritan Food Donation Bill (“Bill“) was passed by Parliament on 7 August 2024.

Only donated food falls under the Bill. “Food” is defined to have the same meaning as in the Sale of Food Act 1973 and may include pre-packed or sealed packaged goods, perishable foods, cooked food, beverages, fruits and uncooked vegetables.

The Bill is built on the foundation of the key terms of “donate” and “food donor”. The food must be given without any payment or exchange of consideration. A “food donor” can be an entity or an individual and is defined to mean either the person who donates food or an entity which donates food in the course of a business. The entity need not be a charity registered under the Charities Act 1994. A “food donor” will cover those who donate food directly to the ultimate recipient as well as those who donate food to an intermediary who will then distribute the donated food.

 The Bill will protect a food donor from criminal or civil liability in respect of death or personal injury that results from consuming the donated food, provided the food donor complies with the following four conditions:

  1. the food must not be unsafe and unsuitable at the time it left the food donor’s possession or control;
  2. where the food was of a nature that required it to be handled in a particular way to ensure that it remained safe and suitable to consume after it left the food donor’s possession or control, the food donor informed the recipient of the food of those handling requirements;
  3. where the food would only have remained safe and suitable to consume for a particular period of time after it left the food donor’s possession or control, the food donor informed the recipient of the food of that time limit; and
  4. the food donor, before donating the food, took all reasonably practicable measures to comply with any applicable requirement under any written law relating to food safety and food hygiene when handling the food.

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