MODULE 2: FOOD SAFETY
Safety Aspects during the Redistribution of Food for Charity Organizations
Food safety involves rules of hygiene in the production, processing, retail and control of food of plant or animal origin, that insure the hygienic propriety of food, including the rules of informing the consumers. All actors in the supply chain, from the participants in the production process, distribution, warehousing, retail objects and delivery to the consumers, are obliged to respect the legal regulations and directives in the field of food safety. Consideration of food safety from the industry to the market includes aspects such as food origin, labeling practices, hygienic standards, additives, pesticide residues, biotechnological policy and legal regulations for import-export and food certification. On the other hand, practices from market to consumer give priority to ensuring food safety at marketplaces and during the preparation of food for consumers.
Chapter 12 in the EU Acquis, the sum of mutual rights and obligations for all EU members, includes detailed rules in the field of food safety, veterinarian and phytosanitary policies. General policy on food products prescribes hygienic rules for the production of food products (https://europa.rs).
Analysis of rules and regulations on food safety that apply to food donation
In EU countries, due to the application of numerous regulations, directives and documents based on recommendations and guidelines, food safety is handled from the production through processing to distribution and consumption (Table 1).
Regulation is a binding legal act, and directive is a legal act, whose goals must be achieved, where EU member states have the freedom to choose the appropriate form (law, legal by law), that will enable them to realize the goals set. Continuous care about this food aspect, protects the public health, ensures consumer trust, and allows for easier movement of health-safe food inside the unique market of the European union.
Aside from the EU guidelines, member states have their own national legislation and guidelines that define the existing legislations and directives on food safety more closely.
Table 1. Legal acts and guidelines on food safety
| Regulations | Descriptions |
| EU Regulation No 852/2004 | Regulation determines general hygienic requests for food producers, including the aspect of food donation (space, equipment, personal hygiene, training, and documentation). |
| EU Regulation
No 853/2004 |
Regulation determines special hygienic rules for producers of food from animal sources (meat, dairy and fish) and at the same time ensures that donated food of animal origin fulfills the safety standards. |
| EU Regulation
No 178/2002 |
Regulation determines general principles and regulations including food safety and traceability, as well as those of food intended for donation. This regulation highlights the responsibility of business entities that handle food to provide hygienically safe food to the market, including donated food. |
| EU Regulation 2019/828 | The goal of regulation is to encourage food donation and minimize food disposal with clarification of provisions about responsibility for food donation. Regulation offers legal protection to food donors, highlighting the increase of donations by minimizing legal risks for donors. |
| EU Directive 2000/13/EC | Directive regulates food labeling and ensures full disclosure of ingredients, allergens, nutritional contents and shelf-life of food products. Correct labeling ensures good practice of food donation. |
| EU Directive
2002/99/EC |
Directive determines requests for health of animals used for production, and placement of products from animal sources on the market, that are intended for human consumption. |
| EU Food Donation Guidelines 2017/C 361/01 | EU provides guidelines and recommendations for adequate food donation (food handling, warehousing, transport and communication in the donation chain) in accordance with the good donation practices of the EU countries). |
| EU Food Law Guidance | Guidelines of the European commission on different aspects of the EU food law, including safety (labeling, traceability and management system). |
| EFSA Guidance | Scientific opinions, guidelines and risk assessments of the European food safety agency (EFSA) in the field of food safety with the goal to support EU institutions and member states in making decisions. |
| Codex Alimentarius Guidelines | Guidelines for the application of Codex Alimentarius of the internationally recognized standards, guidelines and other recommendations related to food, production of food and food safety so that the EU could ensure food safety and encourage socially responsible behavior in trade. |
Food donation
Redistribution of surplus food that is generated in any stage of the chain of food production and distribution, is conducted without compensation, through direct donation to the socially vulnerable persons, or through food banks that act as mediators between donors, charity organizations and end users. Donated food can be fresh food (meat, fruit and vegetables), prepared food/meal, partially prepared or frozen food. Donors are subjects in the food business, physical or legal entities, who donate surplus food from any stage of the food supply chain (production, retail, preparation and delivery of prepared food, HoReCa). Intermediary in the food donation chain is a non-profit physical or legal entity, i.e. charity organization (social supermarkets, public kitchens) enrolled in the appropriate Register of intermediaries in food donation.
End users of donated food can be socially vulnerable persons, persons who are victims of a natural disaster, non-profit legal subjects that offer services of accommodation and/or food to their proteges (Picture 1).
Food banks play an important role in the donation, as non-profit organizations that collect, store and distribute surplus food that is still safe for consumption. The first food bank was established in Arizona (USA) in 1967, and the first one in Europe was founded in France in 1984. Nowadays, in European countries there are national federations of food banks. In the EU, national banks are networked and they form the European Food Banks Federation – FEBA (European Food Banks Federation) with headquarters in Brussels since 2018 (https://food.ec.europa.eu). In 2018, FEBA network counted 421 food banks from 24 countries with 31.700 charity employees, out of which 85% were volunteers. Placement of food on the market is also considered as donation, which requires adequate application of legal rules in this field. Food donor is responsible for the hygienic safety of food until the moment the food is taken over by the intermediary in the donation chain or the end recipient, in the case of direct donation. Charity organizations, intermediaries in the food donation chain are responsible for food safety from the moment of taking over the food from food donors, until the moment the end user receives the donated food.
The European commission encourages member states to redistribute surplus food, i.e. donate, by providing a legal framework and guidelines for good practices of food donation in the EU countries. Directive EZ 2018/851 about food waste highlights the need to minimize food waste in the EU for 50% by the year 2030, and advises member states to encourage food donation, and lower surplus food being redirected for animal feed or processing into non-food products. In 2019 in the European Union, a decision was made about establishing a mutual methodology for measuring food waste. Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy also views food donation as an important link in minimizing food waste made by consumers and retail objects in the EU by 2030. (https://food.ec.europa.eu/document/download).
Under the Action plan for circular economy, The European Union created Guidelines for Food Donation (https://eur-lex.europa.eu) so as to use active participation of members states in food donation to minimize food waste, and thereby preserve natural resources and the environment.
Application of the guidelines on food donation that were published by the European commission in 2017, ensures a high level of food safety, health and hygienic safety, traceability and responsibility. When it comes to the fiscal framework, the majority of the EU member states (20-27 members), with the aim to encourage food donation, canceled the obligatory tax for donated food. The multiple importance of food donation is also recognized on the international level. In the framework of the United Nations Agenda, it is estimated that by 2030, food waste per capita would be halved.
Taking care of health and hygienic safety of food is the priority goal in donation, because it lowers the health risks for users of donated food. Therefore, inside the EU there are regulations and directives for donating food and animal feed, and also numerous guidelines that facilitate the application of good practices in the field of food safety, are in the process of being developed. These rules and guidelines play a key role in enabling food donations by charity organizations and humanitarian organizations inside the EU. By establishing hygienic standards, ensuring food safety and providing legal protection to the donors, the mission of charity organizations to minimize hunger and food insecurity is supported, simultaneously preserving the health and welfare of food recipients.
Obstacles in food donation
Despite the existing regulations and raising awareness about the importance of handling surplus food, the statistical data show that due to the numerous obstacles, only 10% of surplus food from the entire supply chain is adequately used. The main obstacles in the redistribution of surplus food through donation are the lack of information on the types of food that can be donated, and understanding of the protocol for food donation. Food is often donated that is close to the expiration date, thereby raising a justified question of whether the food at the end of the donation chain is safe for consumption. Even though food producers inside the factories consistently apply the standards that ensure the health and hygienic safety of products, they also pose some ambiguities when it comes to food donation. The most common dilemma of potential donors is whether they can donate products that reached the expiration date on their label. Aside from that, there are some logical questions related to adequate storing, packaging, transportation and labeling of donated food. Apart from the regulatory question, producers partially have justified dilemmas regarding the tax payment on donated food. The obligations of economical nature discourage both the producers and the sellers from donating surplus food, and that is why they often wait for the expiration of the ’’use by’’ date, and destroy the food. For all of the above-mentioned reasons, numerous factories and organizations unnecessarily reject health safe food, and thereby miss the opportunity to mitigate the consequences of food insecurity, and give support to socially vulnerable groups.
An additional problem is presented by the ambiguities that the competent inspections have, due to the lack of clear guidelines for solving the issues that the donors in the field of food safety face. It is important to note that many food producers find it hard to make the decision to donate food because they fear the potential responsibility if the consumer gets sick. The survey conducted in 2016 by the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA), and the Initiative for Cooperation of the Food Industry, confirmed that 50% of the producers, 39% of restaurants and 25% of retailers and wholesalers who participated in the survey, stated that the concern for responsibility in the case of consumers getting sick represents the main obstacle for donations.
Problems of charity organizations
Charity organizations who intermediate in the donation chain also face problems related to the safety of donated food. The food collected from donors is being transported, stored and redistributed through the network of connected charity organizations (local organizations, public kitchens, the Red Cross). Identification of all the participants in food donation is important because of transfer of responsibility for the safety of donated food along the donation chain. Food donor is responsible for the safety of food until the moment the intermediary in the food donation chain takes over the food, or the end recipient in the case of direct donation. The intermediary in the food donation chain is responsible for the safety of food from the moment of taking over the food from the donor until the distribution of food, i.e. until it reaches the end recipients. The majority of charity organizations lack the adequate conditions for receiving larger food quantities (cold storage, warehouses, human resources), especially when it comes to receiving food that is close to the expiration date. Food donation has not entirely come to life in European countries precisely due to the insufficient technical capacities of the intermediaries in the donation chain. Human resources represent an important issue from the safety aspect, i.e. the large number of volunteers involved in the work of charity organizations, who also need to pass the hygienic minimum, the exam of general knowledge on health safety of food. Even though the volunteer workforce is of extreme importance for the society, volunteers often lack the skill needed to perform specific tasks within charity organizations. In some European countries, a section of volunteers are people sentenced to community service. Those people often lack the true motivation for any kind of education and charity work as a whole. The lack of answers to all the listed problems, as well as the insufficient number of trainings of all the actors in the donation chain, discourages the handling of surplus food, and thereby minimizes the society’s concern about the socially vulnerable people, natural resources and the environment.
Overcoming obstacles and motivating charity organizations to donate food
Despite the existing legal regulations of the EU, the majority of charity organizations in the EU member states still lacks a clear picture of the importance of donated food’s safety, as well as their own responsibilities concerning this issue. Continuous education about all the aspects of food safety represent a way of overcoming the existing obstacles. However, the first important step in resolving this problem is registering all the intermediaries in the donation chain. The competent ministries need to take care of the registered intermediaries, and not only help them in removing the ambiguities that they have related to regular and obligatory reporting on the volume of collected food, but also offer full support to all the interested charity organizations so as to include them in the food donation chain. According to this, it is necessary for the government and the competent ministries to create the appropriate incentive framework for safe donation (Picture 2).
National guides for understanding the European regulations and additional requests on food donation, play an important role in overcoming the obstacles. The mentioned guides offer more detailed information about the food that can be donated, safety and labeling of the food intended for donation.
Examples of good practices in food donation
France is one of the European countries with the best donation practice, and also the most consistent application of the regulations on food safety. In France, a special decree prescribes that each subject in the food business is responsible for health and hygienic safety of products. Transfer of ownership and responsibility over food is conducted by signing the official document for each received donation with all the necessary information. The donors have national guides with listed hygienic conditions that must be fulfilled during the distribution of donated food.
Italy is also one of the countries that adequately overcome the obstacles related to the application of the legal regulation for safety of donated food.
Italy was the first to introduce Good Samaritan Law, the law inspired by the American Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act, that protects donors from lawsuits for health safety of donated food. The uniqueness of this law is based on the fact that food donation from the donor to the intermediary in the donation chain is considered as donating food to the end recipient. Despite the fact that Italy has one of the best organized food banks in Europe, and that introducing the Good Samaritan Law encouraged donations, Italy is still the leader in the volume of food waste. With the goal to solve the aforementioned problem, in 2016 a new law was established that made donations easier through the changes in the tax framework. The new law is based on initiatives and incentives towards all the participants in the food donation chain. Special attention in the law is focused on clarifying the terms ”best before” and ”use by”. The term ”best before” determines the date until which it is preferable to use the produce, but it allows the donors that if there is a surplus of food of preserved quality and intact packaging, to make the donation after the given date. On the other hand, Italian law states that the term ”use by” refers to the specific perishable and short-lived products, and represents the exact date of expiration, after which the food can no longer be donated (Picture 3).
The United Kingdom (UK) has a detailed legal framework relevant for food safety, that relies on the UK laws, laws of the member states (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), as well as some EU laws that were retained after Brexit. On the national level, the law formed the Food Standards Agency, that offers help to all those in the food business, and cooperates with the local authorities on the matters of applying the rules and regulations on food safety. The local authorities conduct a regular inspection monitoring of all subjects in the food business. The United Kingdom also has laws that standardize and clarify the date labels on products in accordance with the Codex Alimentarius and the EU Food Information Regulation (FIR) that prescribes two-fold labeling of dates on food declarations. With the aim to minimize the unnecessary food waste, the law of the United Kingdom prescribes that food producers use the term ”use by” when there are limitations of durability from the aspect of hygienic safety of the product, while in other case they should use the term ”best before”. The Ministry of Environment, Food and Agriculture in the Great Britain clarified legal regulations on food safety, and enabled donation (and sales) of food with the expired ”best before” date, if the quality of the product is preserved, and prohibited the sales or donations of food with the expired ”use by” date. Aside from that, the British government launched extensive campaigns whose goal is the education of consumers about the labeling of products’ shelf-life on food declarations. Adopting national and individual regulations on the safety of donated food, establishing the system for labeling shelf-life by applying the two-fold date listed in the standards of Codex Alimentarius, offering non-refundable aid and incentives to entities in the food business, are good approaches of the UK to solving the problems related to food donation.
The EU lacks the legislation about food donation that is consistently applied in all member states, so the states developed their own approaches to solving the problem of redistribution of surplus food. As was stated above, only a few EU member states, like Italy and France, have good national laws for food donation, while some countries like Germany, Romania, and Sweden established only the guidelines for managing food donations. Some countries inside the EU realize food donations only based on the specific administrative texts on this topic. Overcoming obstacles in food donation in the countries that have still not achieved a high level of organization within the donation chain, when it comes to the issue of food safety, is possible only through good cooperation with the local authorities and ministries, as well as organization of continuous trainings on the following topics:
- Hygienic preconditions for persons who handle the donated food
- Conditions of transportation and storing of donated food
- Food traceability in the donation chain
- Basic freezing principles of food intended for donations
- Storing and transportation of food from the HoReCa sector
- Labeling of food intended for donations
- Analyzing legal regulations, directives, and guidelines on food safety
Literature
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2017:361:TOC
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32004R0852
https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/eur63427.pdf
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/828/pdfs/uksi_20190828_en.pdf
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https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/eur214110.pdf
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Bounie D. , Arcot J., Cole M., Egal F., Juliano P., Mejia C., Rosa D., Sellahewa J. (2020). The role of food science and technology in humanitarian response. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 103, 367-375.
European Commission established the Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste (FWL) 10 in 2016
European Commission. (2020). Farm to Fork Strategy: For a fair, healthy, and environmentally-friendly food system.
Presentation
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