This is a question we get asked all of the time. The great answer is that state and federal laws protect organizations from liability whenever they donate food they believe to be safe. Good faith food donors are not subject to civil and criminal liability should the product later cause harm to its recipient. 

FYI, in four years of operating Food Connection we've never had one complaint that the food receieved was bad. Not one. 

Learn more about the "Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act."

The federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act provides liability protection for food donors, and North Carolina’s Immunity from Liability for Food Donations law provides additional liability protection to businesses and non-profits in the state. Click this link created by the NC Department of Environmental Quality and Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic.

Pull up a chair. Here's an in depth look! "The Legal Guide to the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act Bill" by James Haley from the University of Arkansas School of Law. He's a smart dude who is very invested in educating folks about food recovery. We are food recovery nerds. He's speaking our language.