Good Faith, Bad Food: Assessing Liability When Food Donations Lead To Illness

Food donations provide not only vital opportunities to combat food insecurity, but also valued tax deductions for contributions to qualified agencies.

But what if donated foods become an immediate cause of a nationwide product recall or associated food-borne outbreak? Who then is to be held harmless?

Can divergent practices and processes increase legal risks for critical food-donation programs as recipient populations experience economic downturns?

Many cases of addressing community hunger involve specific classifications of food surpluses that support accessibility via local organization networks. These networks often communicate differing judgments about the quality, handling methods, transportation conditions, and storage of food.

The cause of widespread food-borne outbreaks—and recurring exposures to pathogens such as Listeria and E. Coli contamination—often remains speculative without complete traceability to a single farm and facility of origin.