We take food safety seriously and ask that food donors and recipient organizations comply with their provincial or territorial food safety requirements. All facilities need to be up to date with health inspections and food safe handling training for anyone who prepares food.  Our training and education programs provide tools, training and safe food handler certification to our non-profit partners, ensuring they meet and exceed food safety standards.  

Any food that is safe to eat can be donated. Check out our Best Before Date Timetable for a quick guide on when foods can be donated and consumed. Additionally, to ensure everyone’s safety, these foods cannot be donated:

• Leftover food that has been plated and served, including salad bar ingredients that are exposed to public touch 
• Prepared food that has been in the temperature danger zone for  2 hours or more 
• Food or drinks with alcohol and/or medicinal ingredients 
• Packaged food that’s been opened or has a broken seal 
• Sushi 
• Food from people’s homes 

Second Harvest is a registered charity and issues donation receipts in accordance with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) guidelines.

Please note: not all donations are eligible for income tax receipts.

While it is not mandatory for charities to provide receipts for donations, we have established a process to do so if the gift is eligible. Under current Canadian tax law, donors of food and consumer products receive no tax benefit for their donation. It is at Second Harvest’s discretion, as per guidelines outlined by the CRA, as to whether tax receipts for food donations are issued.

Often, food donors will write off the cost of the product, or a percentage of the cost, and can do so within the regulations of the CRA and do not require a receipt. Thus, if the value of the donation is within the write-off allowances, the company can take the tax write-off without a charitable receipt. As backup, Second Harvest is happy to provide our food donor partners an Acknowledgement Letter, on our letterhead, that confirms the products donated, without a dollar value attached. You can request an Acknowledgement Letter for your donation through your key contact at Second Harvest.

Every province and territory in Canada has food donation legislation that protects organizations from liability when donating food in good faith. Under the food donation acts, incorporated businesses, non-profits, employees and volunteers are not liable for damages resulting from the consumption of donated food.

Second Harvest takes this assurance one step further by offering education to recipient organizations on safe food handling and by providing a digital paper trail for donations.

Should a business need to recall a product, we know exactly where to find it. We take food safety seriously and ask that food donors and recipient organizations comply with their provincial or territorial food safety requirements. All facilities need to be up to date with health inspections and food-safe handling training for anyone who prepares food.

There are no donation size limits! Whether it's 10 pounds of food or 10,000 pounds, Second Harvest helps to match your donations to local charities and non-profits who can accept the amount of food you have.

Absolutely. Second Harvest values and prioritizes your existing partnerships. We're here to enhance them if we can, while allowing you to track your impact along the way. If you'd like to check whether we're already working with your partner organization, reach out to us.

Second Harvest will provide a tax receipt if eligibility criteria are met. The responsibility for proof falls to us, the registered charity, to validate the dollar amount of the receipt. Minimum eligibility requirements for requesting a food donation charitable tax receipt include:

- The product(s) must have a fair market value and be accompanied by proper documentation, confirming its value. Accepted documentation includes itemized bills of lading, itemized invoices,
sales receipts, or public websites listing official price sets. Documentation must be received within seven (7) days after the donation was received by Second Harvest.

- Second Harvest may only issue a tax receipt to an individual if there is evidence to show that the individual is the true donor, which includes documentary proof specifying the acquisition by way of the individual's personal cheque/credit/debit account or by way of the corporation donating in the name or on behalf of the individual through the shareholder’s account.

- The product must be “out of inventory” and “sellable,” which excludes close-to-code, mislabelled, damaged, test kitchen product, food service prepared food or surplus food that the company cannot sell.

- The product must have the following minimum number of days left on the best before/expiry dates as outlined by food category below:

o Shelf-stable/non-perishable product: 90 days
o Meat/protein: 14 days
o Dairy/dairy alternatives: 14 days
o Produce: Based on quality

With our food rescue app, it's easy! We're a charity just trying to make the world a better place. You can join us to use the app whenever you have surplus food. For some businesses that is every day, for others it is once a year. We're here when you need us!

We're an environmental organization, so we've set minimums for sending a Second Harvest truck. Businesses in Toronto wishing to use our direct delivery program must have a minimum of 200 pounds of nutrient-dense food (produce, protein, prepared or dairy) to receive a pick-up. Our food rescue programs are always free for our valued network partners.