§76-5.6. Food donations - Civil and criminal liability – Options

516 words·~2 min read·/ok/title-76-torts/76-5-6

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

for safe food donation - Regulation of use - Definitions.

A. Any donor who makes a good-faith donation of food which is at the time of donation fit for human consumption to a charitable organization or nonprofit corporation shall not be liable for damages in any civil suit or subject to criminal prosecution for any injury resulting from the nature, age, condition or packaging of the donated food, unless the injury or death is a direct result of the gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct of the donor.

B. Information shall be posted with the State Department of Health on its website under the existing heading "Protective Health" within a new section labeled "Options for Safe Food Donation" with hyperlinks to Section 5.6 of Title 76 of the Oklahoma Statutes, Section 5-601 et seq. of Title 2 of the Oklahoma Statutes, Oklahoma Administration Code Title 310: Chapter 257, 42 U.S.C., Section 1791, and to the website of Oklahoma State University's Robert S. Kerr Food and Agriculture Products Center.

The State Department of Health shall also have hyperlinks to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's "Hunters Against Hunger" webpage, and the special licensing page created by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry shall also post on its website in a new section labeled "Options for Safe Food Donation" with hyperlinks to Section 5.6 of Title 76 of the Oklahoma Statutes, Section 5-601 et seq. of Title 2 of the Oklahoma Statutes, Oklahoma Administration Code Title 310:

Chapter 257, 42 U.S.C., Section 1791, to the website of Oklahoma State University's Robert S. Kerr Food and Agriculture Products Center, and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's "Hunters Against Hunger" webpage. Additionally, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry shall have a webpage on the special licensing.

C. This section shall apply to all good-faith donations of perishable or nonperishable food which is not readily marketable due to appearance, freshness, grade or other conditions.

D. This section shall not restrict the authority of any appropriate agency to regulate or ban the use of such food for human consumption.

E. For purposes of this section:

1. "Donor" means any person, profit or nonprofit food distributor, or person who harvests perishable foods who makes a good-faith donation of food;

2. "Good-faith donation" means a gift conferred without condition or consideration;

3. "Charitable organization" means any benevolent, philanthropic, patriotic, eleemosynary, educational, social, civic,

recreational or religious group or association or any other person performing or purporting to perform acts beneficial to the public;

4. "Nonprofit corporation" means a corporation formed for a purpose not involving pecuniary gain to its shareholders or members, paying no dividends or other pecuniary remuneration, directly or indirectly, to its shareholders or members as such, and having no capital stock; and

5. "Food" includes any packaged, prepared, perishable or nonperishable food item. Added by Laws 1981, c. 9, § 1, emerg. eff. April 6, 1981. Amended by Laws 2013, c. 339, § 3, emerg. eff. May 29, 2013; Laws 2024, c. 222, § 7, eff. Sept. 15, 2024.