Food safety and quality are our top priorities
JEE Foods strives to provide nutritious food to the community and our hunger-relief partners. We have a duty to ensure that food meets our quality and safety standards. Throughout the food donation process, food is handled on the principle that the food provided is food that we would serve our families.
All JEE Foods team members are trained and certified in food safety, including temperature control, handling, and proper storage. Our warehouse facilities also follow practices outlined by the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Additionally, our cold storage units are remotely monitored to ensure that food never reaches a climate prone to bacteria growth.
When volunteers complete rescues, they complete a visual inspection of the food and will alert the food donor and/or JEE Foods if there is a cause for concern. In addition, our team schedules rescue routes to minimize the time on the road for temperature safety. We will never purposefully donate food that would pose a risk to the community.
On a federal level, JEE Foods and our food donors are protected under the Good Samaritan Act. This act not only encourages food donation but removes legal liability if the food was donated in good faith.
The original enactment in 1990 of the Model Good Samaritan Food Donation Act by Congress (Title IV of the National and Community Service Act) was later amended and signed into law on October 1, 1996, by President Bill Clinton as the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (“Food Donation Act”).
The Food Donation Act supports and encourages the donation of food and grocery product by:
1. Protecting food donors from any civil or criminal liability when donating food in good faith to a non-profit organization for distribution to needy individuals.
2. Protecting non-profit organizations from civil or criminal liability arising from a good faith donation for distribution to needy individuals.
3. Protecting good faith donations from any liability arising from “the nature, age, packaging, or condition of apparently wholesome food or an apparently fit grocery product” even if the food “may not be readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, grade, size, surplus, or other conditions.”
