The Auspicious Quest to Embrace Good Samaritans in Malaysia: The Food Donors Protection Bill 2019

Food donation is a highly encouraged act of charity but many often do not donate in fear of accidentally incurring civil or criminal liability should a person be negatively affected by said donation. The Food Donors Protection Bill 2019 is expected to help alleviate these worries.

I. INTRODUCTION

The trend in our homeland is apparent — more entities are jumping on the bandwagon in donating their excess perishable food to those in need via charities and non-profit organisations.[1] However, the common concern among these entities is their liability should anything happen to the recipient due to consumption of donated food. To assuage such concerns, there are calls to enact a food donors protection law in Malaysia to encourage more entities to give away their excess food. Given the moniker ‘Good Samaritan law’, such legislations would normally protect food donors from civil and criminal liability arising out of food donations, thus giving the donors a sense of assurance.[2]

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