What Should a Food Business Check Before Donating Surplus Food?

An Irish food business may donate surplus food when the food is safe and in an acceptable condition. The donation activity must be covered by the business's food safety management system, and the handover must preserve temperature control, food information and traceability. A donation is not a route for passing on food that the business would otherwise reject as unsafe.

TapTick can help teams schedule donation-release checks, record exceptions and corrective actions, and keep evidence visible across sites. It does not decide whether a particular food is safe to donate. See the TapTick features.

What changed in the Safe Catering Pack?

On 31 July 2026, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland added a Food Donations section to its Safe Catering Pack. The section explains responsibilities for businesses donating food and for charities or other organisations receiving it. It also connects donations with controls such as storage, freezing, defrosting, cooking and allergens.

This was an update to official guidance, not a new Act or Regulation taking effect on that date. The underlying duties on food safety, hygiene, food information and traceability already apply. The update gives small food businesses a clearer way to build those duties into everyday procedures.

Can this food be donated?

Start with the same question you would ask before selling or serving the food: is it safe and acceptable? FSAI says manufacturers, caterers, retailers and other food businesses may donate surplus food when that condition is met.

A release check should consider:

• whether the food has remained under the intended storage conditions;
• whether packaging is intact and free from contamination, leakage, swelling or damage;
• whether a use-by date has passed or will pass before safe redistribution;
• whether a best-before product remains acceptable after a documented check;
• whether prepared portions have remained under the business's control and have not been served to a customer;
• whether the food can be identified and traced;
• whether complete ingredient, allergen and storage information will be available to the receiver; and
• whether the receiver can safely transport, store and distribute the food.

Put the decision points in the food safety management system rather than relying on staff judgement alone. Define who may release food, what evidence they review and what happens when a check is uncertain.

How should use-by and best-before dates be handled?

The two date marks answer different questions.

Use-by

A use-by date is about safety. FSAI's food donation guidance says food with a use-by date may be donated only within that date. Do not donate it after the use-by date, and do not plan a handover that leaves no realistic time for the receiver to store or use the food safely.

FSAI guidance also describes tightly controlled circumstances in which suitable food may be frozen before midnight on its use-by date. That is not an automatic extension. Freezing must be appropriate for the food, included in the food safety management system and supported by changed labelling and instructions. If the business has not established and documented that process, do not improvise it at the end of the day.

Best-before

A best-before date is primarily about quality. Official EU guidance says food may be donated after its best-before date where it remains safe and there is no ambiguity for the consumer. The donor should check packaging integrity, storage history, the condition of the food and any other relevant hazard or product instruction.

A calendar date alone does not approve or reject a best-before product. Record the check and the decision. If the business cannot establish that the food remains safe and acceptable, do not donate it.

What temperature checks are needed?

The donation process must maintain the storage conditions needed by the food. FSAI's donation guidance uses 0–5°C for chilled food and below -18°C for frozen food. Check the applicable product instructions and the controls in the business's own food safety management system.

For chilled or frozen food, a useful handover check records:

• the storage unit or location from which the food was released;
• the date and time of removal;
• the food temperature where a measurement is appropriate;
• the transport method and protection from contamination;
• the time the receiver accepted the food; and
• any delay, out-of-range result and resulting corrective action.

FSAI does not recommend donating cooked unsold food while hot because maintaining at least 63°C during transport can be difficult. Its guidance describes cooling and donating some food that was hot-held, but only where it has not been reheated, remained at the required hot-holding temperature and is cooled promptly under a controlled procedure. If the business does not already have a validated cooling and donation process, do not create one during a busy close-down.

What labelling and allergen information must travel with the food?

The receiver and final consumer need accurate information to store, prepare and use the food safely. FSAI says documentation accompanying donated food must identify allergens.

Keep the original label with the food where possible. For food assembled, repacked or frozen by the donor, confirm what additional information is required. Depending on the food and transaction, that can include:

• the name or clear description of the food;
• ingredient and allergen information;
• use-by or best-before information;
• storage and defrosting instructions;
• cooking or reheating instructions where necessary;
• the batch, lot or other traceability reference; and
• the donor's business name and contact details.

Do not guess at allergens from memory or replace a missing label with an informal description. If accurate food information cannot be recovered, hold the food rather than transferring the uncertainty to the receiver.

What donation records should be kept?

When a retailer, caterer or manufacturer donates food to a charity or another organisation acting as a food business, the donor is supplying another food business. FSAI says the donor therefore needs one-step-forward traceability.

The legal minimum must identify the receiving business, the nature of the products and the transaction or delivery date. A practical donation record should normally go further so the business can manage an incident quickly:

• donating business and site;
• receiver's legal name, address and contact person;
• food description and quantity;
• batch, lot, supplier or production reference where applicable;
• use-by or best-before date;
• allergen information supplied;
• storage and transport conditions;
• handover date and time;
• temperature result where relevant;
• name of the person releasing and accepting the food; and
• any deviation, rejection or corrective action.

This detail is good operational practice rather than a claim that every field is a separate statutory record. The purpose is to let the business identify affected food and contact the receiver without reconstructing the handover from messages, memory or end-of-day paperwork.

What should be checked at transport and handover?

Agree responsibilities with the receiving organisation before food starts moving. The donor should know who is collecting, when collection will happen and what equipment will protect the food. The receiver should know what is arriving and what storage capacity is needed.

At handover, check that:

• containers are clean, suitable and protected from contamination;
• raw food is separated from ready-to-eat food where relevant;
• chilled and frozen conditions can be maintained;
• labels and accompanying documents match the actual food;
• the quantity and traceability references are legible;
• the receiver accepts responsibility at a recorded time; and
• both sides know whom to contact if a recall or other incident arises.

If the collector is late or arrives without suitable temperature-controlled transport, that is an exception to manage, not a reason to waive the control. Keep food under the donor's control until the condition is corrected or reject the handover.

When should food not be donated?

Do not donate food when:

• it is past its use-by date;
• its safety, identity or storage history is uncertain;
• packaging is compromised or contamination is suspected;
• required allergen or other safety information is missing or unreliable;
• a recall, withdrawal, hold or investigation applies to it;
• it has been served to a customer or otherwise left hygienic control;
• safe transport and storage cannot be maintained; or
• the receiver cannot be identified for traceability.

Record the reason and dispose of or manage the food through the approved waste or incident procedure. A charitable purpose does not lower the food-safety threshold.

How should multi-site operators standardise donations?

A central policy should define which food groups may be donated, which receiving organisations are approved and which checks are mandatory. Each site can then follow the same release and handover process without making new legal or technical interpretations.

Set clear ownership for:

• approving receivers and transport arrangements;
• deciding which products are eligible;
• setting collection cut-off times;
• maintaining allergen, date and traceability information;
• reviewing temperature and handover exceptions;
• contacting every affected receiver during an incident; and
• checking that local records match the central procedure.

Review the records across sites. Repeated late collections, missing receiver details or food rejected for temperature reasons are signals to change the arrangement, not just close individual actions.

What is law and what is guidance?

• Law: general food law requires food placed on the market to be safe and requires traceability through food businesses.
• Law: food hygiene rules require food businesses to maintain hygiene controls and HACCP-based procedures appropriate to their activities.
• Law: food information rules apply to required consumer information, including allergens and date marking.
• Official guidance: FSAI's Food Donations pages and Safe Catering Pack explain how Irish businesses can apply those duties when donating or receiving food.
• Official EU guidance: the European Commission notice gives practical guidance for retail activities, including food donation. It supports application of the law but is not a replacement for the Regulations.
• Business procedure: the operator turns the applicable rules and guidance into approved foods, named responsibilities, cut-off times, checks, records and corrective actions.

This article is labelled Ireland because it relies on FSAI guidance and EU rules applicable there. Food businesses operating elsewhere should check the law and official guidance for that jurisdiction before copying the procedure.

Practical food donation checklist

• Confirm the donation activity is included in the food safety management system.
• Use only approved receivers and agreed collection arrangements.
• Check that the food is safe, acceptable and suitable for donation.
• Reject food past its use-by date.
• Document the condition check for food past a best-before date.
• Confirm packaging, storage history and date information.
• Provide accurate ingredient, allergen and handling information.
• Maintain chilled, frozen or other required conditions.
• Identify the receiver and record the handover.
• Include batch or lot information where relevant.
• Record exceptions and the corrective action taken.
• Keep a working contact route for withdrawals and recalls.
• Review patterns across sites and update the arrangement when controls repeatedly fail.