Food Donation Safety Guide
The Wisconsin Community Action Program (WISCAP) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension created the Safe & Health Food Pantries Project. This is a very deep dive into food safety at pantries, and covers pantry operations as well as donation practice. Check their guide for more details.
Identify Food to Donate
You can donate food that has not been served.
This includes any raw, processed, or prepared food, ice, beverage, or ingredient used or intended for use, in whole or in part, for human consumption.
Foods that have been packaged using a reduced oxygen packaging procedure (cook-chill, sous vide) cannot be donated.
There are some foods you cannot donate, despite all good intentions, because they pose safety concerns.
A list of food you cannot donate can be found at the bottom of this page. You should also contact the pantry you wish to visit before showing up with food they cannot accept.
Food Must be Kept at the Correct Temperatures for Safe for Donation
Prepared foods must meet and maintain certain temperature requirements to be safely donated.
Follow the below guidelines to ensure food is safe.
Cold Food
- Must be kept at 41° F or below
Hot Food
- Must be kept at 135° F or above
Hot Food That Is Cooled
- Hot food that is donated cold must be cooled from 135° F to 70° F within 2 hours and from 70° F to 41° F or below within 4 hours for a total of 6 hours
Correctly Label All Food Intended for Donation
Label the outside of the container with the name of the food, your business, the preparation date, and “Donated Food—Not For Resale.” This is the best practice.
Foods with the temperature concerns (like foods that must be kept hot or cold) must be date-marked to indicate a 7-day maximum hold time so they can be used or discarded by the 7th day.
Some examples of foods with time and temperature concerns, also knows as TCS (time controlled for safety) foods, are:
- Cut tomatoes
- Dairy
- Cut melons
- Beef
- Fish
- Cut leafy greens
Foods You Should Not Donate
(From the Safe & Healthy Food Pantries Project)
- Home-canned or home-preserved foods
- Home-prepared meals or desserts
- Spoiled foods
- Rotten fruits & vegetables
- Opened packages of food
- Foods in crushed, dented, or rusted containers
- Foods past their "use by" or "best by" dates.
- Packages of food that are dirty of soiled
- Foods not to retail businesses
