Food Donation

Guide For Businesses to Donate Food Graphic

Many area restaurants, caterers, grocers and food service companies are helping people who experience hunger.

While steps can be taken to plan and prepare food carefully, sometimes excess food and unused ingredients are inevitable.

Why donate?

Support your community
Stay competitive
Conserve resources

Liability and tax incentives

Federal and state laws protect you from liability when you donate food in good faith that you believe to be safe and edible (Bill Emerson Food Donation Act and Oregon Good Samaritan Law).
Businesses that donate may be eligible for federal tax deductions. Work with your accountant or business manager for financial advice.

Tips for successful donation

Build partnerships and get to know the food donation organizations in your community to understand what types of foods they can accept.
Always call ahead. Food donation organizations need to assess the time, effort and coordination necessary to pick up or receive your donated food.
Prioritize the donation of healthy food most desired by food donation organizations and the people they serve; avoid sending unusable food that they then may have to dispose of later.
If possible, establish a regular frequency of donations and provide larger quantities of food rather than small sporadic donations. For small or infrequent quantities consider donating to employees first.
Work with your donation partners to establish a system for labeling and tracking donations.

Can donate

Bulk food items
Canned, packaged or boxed food items, commercially processed
Commercially baked goods
Entrees and prepared items that have not been served to the public
Frozen foods, commercially packaged
Grab-n-Go packaged items
Fruit and vegetables—fresh, packaged or loose
Meat—raw, cooked or frozen and stored separately
Dairy products and eggs
Food prepared and stored according to safe handling guidelines
Shelf-stable (non-perishable) foods that are at or near the Sell-By or Best-By date

Cannot donate

Prepared food that has been served to the public, or is past the 7-day mark from the day it was prepared
Food that has been in the temperature danger zone for four hours or more
Food that was improperly cooled or stored
Food in open or torn containers and bags
Food in unlabeled packaging

Keep food safe

Protecting the health of the communities we serve is the highest priority. It is critical to maintain hot or cold temperature control on foods you will be donating to reduce the risk of food spoilage, microbial growth and foodborne illness. Separate foods by type (e.g. meat, dairy) to avoid cross contamination.

Cold Food must be kept at 41 °F or below
Hot Food must be kept at 135 °F or above

After cooling hot food properly, package food in food-grade, sealed containers and label with food name, ingredients, potential allergens and date it was frozen or prepared. Label non-frozen foods with a use-by date, which is six days after the food was prepared.

Food Code Fact Sheet: Cooling