Food donation Bill tabled to protect businesses, caterers from being sued

SINGAPORE – To help solve the country’s food waste problem, businesses could soon donate unsold or excess food without fearing liability – if a recipient gets food poisoning – as long as they follow strict hygiene and safety protocols.

This is the basis of a proposed law that four MPs introduced in Parliament on July 2 to encourage more food donations.

The tabled Good Samaritan Food Donation Bill seeks to shield certain donors from liability for any death or health issues resulting from the consumption of cooked food donated under certain conditions, said Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC), who leads the Good Samaritan Legislation Review Committee.

The food must be safe and suitable for consumption when it leaves the caterer or business. The food donor must also provide the recipient with know-how to ensure that the food remains safe – with specific defrosting or storing instructions, for example.

The recipient must be informed by the donor of the time limit for consuming the food, and the caterer or business should take all reasonable measures to comply with food safety and hygiene requirements.

If all these conditions are met, but the consumer gets food poisoning after eating the food, the donor will not be held responsible.

Food items covered under the proposed law include packaged food, cooked items, perishable snacks like bread and cakes, drinks, fruits and vegetables.

Currently, food rescuers and businesses such as Food Bank Singapore and Tung Lok’s events and catering arm have been signing indemnity forms to release themselves from any claims in the event of a mishap.

The Bill took four years to draft after the review committee consulted with restaurants, hotels, social enterprises, food producers, retailers and delivery companies, said Mr Ng.

The review committee includes MPs Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC), Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) and Edward Chia (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC),and industry players such as BreadTalk, DBS, Food from the Heart and NTUC FairPrice.

Discarded food is a major waste stream in Singapore. In 2023, 755,000 tonnes of food waste was produced, and only 18 per cent of it was recycled and sent to food digesters.

“This Bill will help reduce food waste and increase availability of food for redistribution to food-insecure communities,” Mr Ng told the House.

Countries such as the United States, France and Italy have similar food donation laws. In France, supermarkets are banned from throwing away unsold food that is edible.

This is Mr Ng’s second Private Member’s Bill. The first, which proposed changes to an existing law to better protect native wildlife, was passed as the Wildlife Act in Parliament in March 2020, and that took almost three years of work.

The proposed law will be debated in Parliament at a later sitting.