Malaysian Food Donors Protection Act 2020 affords food donors protection from civil liability
29 April 2020
On 30 March 2020, the Malaysian Food Donors Protection Act 2020 (“Act”) came into effect. The Act provides that a food donor shall not incur any civil liability in respect of any personal injury or disease suffered by any person, or the death of any person, resulting from the consumption of the food donated or distributed by the food donor unless it can be proven that:
- the injury, disease or death was caused by the negligence or wilful misconduct of the food donor;
- the food donor has not complied with food safety and food hygiene requirements;
- the food was not safe for consumption; and
- the donation or distribution of food was not made in good faith.
The Act provides a wide definition of “food donor” which includes any person who donates or distributes food to any person without any payment or other form of consideration and includes volunteers, corporations, government entities, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and charitable institutions or organisations or other organisations or entities and their directors, agents and employees.